Vengeance
by Quillian
Summary: WIP AU version of Shadows of the Empire for Kenya Starflight's Reborn cycle!  Just because Darth Vader's no longer an Imperial doesn't mean that Prince Xizor won't leave him alone...
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own _Star Wars_, etc.; George Lucas does. I don't own the novel _Shadows of the Empire_, either; its author is Steve Perry, and some passages from this fanfic may come directly from that.  
**SPECIAL DISCLAIMER:** The "Reborn" cycle is an amazing collection of AU stories by **Kenya Starflight**; if you read that first, then this should make more sense.  
**_IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:_** Due to concerns, I am now emulating Kenya Starflight's writing strategy of glossing over parts of canon that go unaffected by the AU circumstances of the story and thus stay the same. I am not directly copying passages of things that stay the same in the _Shadows of the Empire_ novel. Hopefully now I've struck a balance in how much in the fic comes from the book itself, so that those who haven't read SotE have a good idea of what's going on, and those who have read it won't be bored by it. If anyone wants to read for themselves exactly what happens in canon, I recommend that they hunt down their own copies of SotE, both of which are far from being rare or expensive. So, from now on, I will put in notes saying which passages may come directly from the book.

**SUMMARY:** After reading Kenya Starflight's "Reborn" cycle, I got the idea in my head for an AU version of the _Star Wars_ cult classic novel, _Shadows of the Empire_, which takes place between Episodes V and VI. So, hopefully this answers the question I posed: _How would the mighty Prince Xizor fit into all of this?  
_**RATING:** PG-13 (T) for violence and some sensuality, but that's much later on. (I'd have rated this PG, but I just wanted to play it safe.)  
**WARNING:** Spoilers for "Recompense" by Kenya Starflight! Read her entire "Reborn" cycle first BEFORE moving onto this story!

NOTE: The prologue essentially splices together an important scene from Chapter 7 of "Experience" along with some of Xizor's thoughts, feelings and ideas from the prologue of SotE. (PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED SINCE THE FIRST TIME IT WAS POSTED.)

* * *

_**Vengeance**_

_By Quillian_

_Co-written with Kenya Starflight_

* * *

_Dedicated to **Kenya** **Starflight**._

* * *

"_Face it, if crime did not pay, there would be very few criminals."_ –Laughton Lewis Burdock 

"_Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die."_ –Carrie Fisher

* * *

**Prologue**

_This had better be good,_ Xizor thought to himself. _I can think of more than a dozen different things I could be doing right about now._

Xizor was sitting at his desk in his office, waiting as a holo recording started up. Normally, he would be holding appointments with clients right about now, but since this "urgent" thing had just come in from one of his spies, he had to do with this first.

The holo expanded to show an image of a murky swamp environment, in a clearing where four figures were, next to a pair of starfighters – one was a human, a young adult male, from the looks of it, and with a boyish face.

The second figure was a blue and silver Astromech droid, its domed head turning left and right as it looked around.

The third figure was a diminutive little being, dressed in worn tan robes; this small being which would have barely come level with the human's knees, had the said human been standing; his skin was a wrinkled pale grin, there wisps of white hair on the top of his head flanked by enormous triangular ears, and with one of his clawed, four-fingered hands holding a gimer-stick cane which he rested on.

But the fourth and final figure was what really got Xizor's attention. A humanoid biped dressed in gray robes, but with his face hidden under a jet-black full helmet and breathing mask.

_Darth Vader._

A former Sith warlord, right hand to the Emperor himself… now a Rebel pilot suffering from amnesia, fighting those he had previously served and commanded.

Now here he was, drinking something, possibly tea, with a Rebel and a galaxy-knows-what kind of alien.

Pitiful, really.

If Xizor could have hurled a power bolt through space and time, he would have done it without blinking. Wishful thinking: Vader was too powerful to attack directly. Even though he was now a Rebel, lots of people claimed that he had just been hard to kill as a Rebel as when he was an Imperial.

Xizor had sent one of his spies to observe the short-lived Rebel base on Hoth, and to follow Vader's movements. Apparently, Vader had come here, to this planet.

"It's been a long day, hasn't it?" the young man asked rhetorically.

"No longer than usual," the small alien replied. Xizor checked the notes which came with the report – if he was correct, this was Jedi Master Yoda, who had escaped the Jedi's downfall decades ago, had lived for centuries and just still wasn't dead yet. Interesting…

The young man – a boy, really – grinned. "I guess I should rephrase that. It's been an eventful day."

"Indeed. Come far you two have. Learned much you have. But Jedi you are not yet."

Xizor ignored Yoda's odd, inverted way of talking and focused more on the conversation, waiting for what was so "urgent" about this.

The boy drained his cup and tossed it back on the tray, looking tired. The alien then asked, "Why wish you to become Jedi?"

Vader chuckled. "Now he asks – ow!"

"Respect your master, you should," Yoda chided, lifting his cane as if to rap Vader's hand again. But he put it away and waited an answer.

"I know I was once a Jedi," Vader replied. His electronic bass voice no longer carried the sort of malice which countless people had heard it with before, but now sounded almost… _casual._ "And I know I betrayed the Order. It is my hope that I can do penance of a sort by helping resurrect the Order."

Xizor already knew that long ago, Vader's name had been Skywalker. Xizor would have also rolled his eyes at the last statement – but he didn't. Even here, in private and with no one to watch him, he practiced not allowing any sign of exasperation or disbelief on his imperturbable features. The Falleen did not allow their emotions to arise and be obvious to others as so many inferior species allowed themselves to do. The Falleen were a scaled, coolly calculating reptilian species, not a wild, furred mammalian species. This was a better, safer advantage the Falleen had.

Yoda nodded in response to Vader. "And you, Luke?"

The young man – Luke – settled back into a sitting position. "I suppose because of my father. I never knew him. He's always been… I don't know… an enigma. A mystery. But I still feel a kind of bond with him, as if he's never actually left my side. And I'd like to follow in his footsteps."

Yoda glanced up sharply. "And what footsteps would those be?" he demanded just as sharply.

"My father was a Jedi," he replied, wondering why his remark had stunned their master so. "I want to be a Jedi, like he was. I want to follow a noble cause like his – a cause he died for."

Things were clicking and coming together in Xizor's mind as he watched this, remembering odd facts here and there…

There was a dead-serious look in the Jedi Master's eyes now. "And what know you of your father's fate?"

"What are you getting at, Master?" asked Luke.

"I betrayed and murdered his father," Vader answered for him. "But he has forgiven me. And though I do not remember committing the deed, I hope to repent of it by serving the Order."

"Hmph," Yoda snorted. "Told you this who did?"

"Obi-wan," Luke replied. "Why?"

_Obi-wan?_ That was a name which Xizor knew. He was along the last of the Jedi Knights, a general… but he had been dead for decades, hadn't he?

Apparently, Xizor's information was wrong if Obi-wan was still around to talk to this young man. His agents were going to be sorry.

Even as Xizor took in the image of this strange little alien get-together, inside the luxury of his own palace on Coruscant, he also made a mental note to himself: Somebody's head would roll for the failure to make him aware of all this. After all, knowledge was power, and thus, lack of knowledge was weakness. This was something he would not permit.

"Told you the truth from a certain point of view he did," the alien replied, glowering upward as if addressing the cosmic ethers. "Always telling things from a certain point of view he was. Knew he did that his responsibility it was to tell you the truth…"

Here, there was a pause as though some voice were speaking to them, not verbally, but _mentally,_ and so Xizor couldn't hear a thing. This annoyed him, not knowing what was going on.

"The burden?" asked Vader, as if responding to some unheard voice. "What burden?"

Yoda lowered his head, his expression gravely sympathetic. "Time it is to tell you what Obi-wan should have revealed three years ago. Time it is to tell you of your father, Luke."

Luke leaned forward intently, and Xizor did his best to interpret the young man's emotions. Excited? Worried? Nervous? Apprehensive?

"Should I leave the two of you alone?" asked Vader.

"Stay," Yoda ordered. "Concerns you too this does."

There was another such pause, and the midget-like alien began to talk again.

"Your father Anakin Skywalker was," began Yoda. "Taken as an apprentice by Obi-wan he was."

"I know all this," Luke protested.

Xizor nearly jolted out of his seat at this, despite himself. Luke Skywalker, _son_ of Anakin Skywalker? _Vader's_ son! Amazing!

"Silence," Yoda instructed, then resumed. "A slave he had been to a junk dealer on Tatooine. An excellent pilot and mechanic he was, but full of fear and anger. Approved of his training I did not. He was too old, exposed he had been to dark emotions… But promised to train him Obi-wan had, and relented the Jedi Council did. Taken as Obi-wan's Padawan learner Anakin was.

"Ten years Anakin studied, growing stronger every day. But disagreed on many counts he did with the Jedi Code."

Luke nodded. Xizor was half-interested, half-bored at this story of Anakin Skywalker's young life.

"Taught you the first part of the Order I did," the alien said, almost as if reading Luke's thoughts. "But other precepts the Code includes. 'A Jedi shall not take more than one apprentice at a time' is one, though good reason there was to disregard it in your case. Another is 'a Jedi shall not know…'"

"'Shall not know discouragement… nor despair… nor love,'" Vader finished. When Luke glanced over at his fellow trainee, he was staring off into space, oddly contemplative.

"Remembered it you have, then," Yoda noted.

"Yes," he murmured, still lost in his own thoughts. "I never did like that part of the Code."

Yoda nodded and continued. "Fell in love Anakin did with a senator from Naboo. Padme Amidala her name was, and first resisted his affections she did. But succumbed to her emotions she did, and married they did. A forbidden bond… one that destroyed them both.

"Arise the fear and anger did in Anakin – the dark side. Fear that discovered their marriage might be. Anger when died in his arms his mother did. Planted in his heart hatred was – hatred toward the Jedi, toward all life, toward all that was good. Consumed by his passions he was, and in the end, destroyed his soul was by the dark side."

Another pause, this one much longer. Luke's legs looked like they were cramping from staying in one position for so long, but he hardly seemed to notice the pain. This small alien's story had commanded his entire attention.

"Hide your mother had to. And hidden you were for your own safety, Luke. For the bane of the galaxy and the Jedi your father had become."

The truth was hanging right in his face, but Luke refused to accept it, to acknowledge it, until the alien's next sentence confirmed it. Xizor just knew what would happen next, thinking to himself: _Here it comes..._

"Darth Vader your father became."

Those five words seemed to hit Luke like a blow in the stomach. His world was spiraling rapidly out of control. Vader… he wasn't Luke's father's murderer… he was his _father…_

Xizor almost laughed at that moment, at that priceless look on Luke Skywalker's face. Even then, he watched the rest of this unfolding drama, which was, in his honest opinion, much better than any sleazy soap opera which anyone could find on the Holonet.

Even in this holographic recording, the entire planet seemed to be holding its breath in anticipation of his reaction. Yoda watched him carefully, gauging his response. Vader was staring at him too – no, gaping. Even with his face sheathed in steel, his shock was completely evident, mainly through his body language.

Xizor was good at this: Controlling his own visible emotions while reading those of others. He had not gotten to be the Dark Prince, Underlord of Black Sun, the largest criminal organization in the galaxy, merely on his formidable good looks. Xizor didn't truly understand the Force that sustained the Emperor and made him and his new right-hand man – Darth Kain – so powerful, except to know that it certainly worked somehow. But he did know that it was something the extinct Jedi had supposedly mastered. And now, apparently, this new player had tapped into it.

Xizor also knew that the Emperor wanted Kain to capture Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, an order which Kain had no choice but to obey. To have the former Sith and Jedi-in-training – father and son respectively – delivered to the Emperor alive, to be converted.

"No," Vader finally managed in a desperate whisper. "It's not true. It's impossible!"

"Both of you your feelings search," Yoda replied. "Know it to be true you do."

Luke looked as if he wanted to scream or destroy something – or someone.

Then he stood abruptly. "I'm going for a walk."

"Luke…" Yoda began.

He didn't wait for the rest of it but simply walked away. Vader shouted something at his back, but he ignored it.

…And as Luke exited the clearing, the recording ended.

This was most interesting. Most interesting indeed.

The Dark Prince smiled. He called in his next client with whom he had an appointment, to conduct the business at hand… but he would not forget the name Luke Skywalker.

* * *

A/N: Well, I kind of had to splice together and then tweak certain parts of _Shadows of the Empire_ and "Experience" to pull this off, but overall I think it went well. 

Originally, I had the idea of making an AU of an AU, where Xizor becomes the next Sith instead of Boba Fett (maybe with a name like "Darth Sinist"?), but both Kenya Starflight and I agreed that a simple AU twist of SotE to suit the "Reborn" cycle would have been enough. Besides, the interactions between Xizor and Kain should work to our advantage in writing this…

As for the quote by Carrie Fisher… it's one I found not too long ago in this book I have, "Words of Wisdom," by Mick Farren. I also thought this was kind of fitting, not to mention downright _ironic_, considering it's resentment towards Vader which is what makes Leia act the way she does towards him in "Innocence." Come to think of it, it can also be made to suit Xizor in this story, given his desire for vengeance (hence this story's title).

So, obviously, up next is the official first chapter of "Vengeance"… –_Quillian_


	2. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** See the Prologue.  
**SPECIAL DISCLAIMER:** See the Prologue.  
**_IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:_** See the Prologue.

NOTE: The scenes with Leia's nightmare and Luke's Force training exercise have been tweaked to suit AU circumstances, and the scene with Xizor has been glossed over. Furthermore, the ages of Red-Dragon and Moon-Blossom have been changed, so now Red-Dragon is several years older than Luke (I'd say about Han's age), and Moon-Blossom is now eight years old. (PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED SINCE THE FIRST TIME IT WAS POSTED.)

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Chewbacca roared in his rage. Stormtroopers tried to subdue him, but the Wookiee took them down by knocking them together or throwing them off –

Another second later, and Kain would have his troops shoot Chewie on site if he hadn't already dealt with the problem himself. He was certainly big and strong, but even he didn't stand a chance against this deranged and dangerous Sith lord –

Han yelled at his best friend, trying to calm him down.

Leia just stared, unable to move or to believe this was happening.

Han kept talking: "Chewie, there'll be another time! The princess, you have to take care of her. D'you hear me, huh?"

They were in a dank chamber in the bowels of Cloud City on Bespin, where Han's so-called friend Lando Calrissian had betrayed them to Darth Kain and his master, the Emperor himself. This chamber looked like it was made out of same dark, volcanic rock, and the only exit was a walkway leading off to some exit from this surreal place, making it look impossibly far away to reach. The scene was illuminated in a sickly golden light, making it seem even more surreal. Leia could see this unusual assembly of people all around her.

Chewbacca blinked at Han, the half-assembled droid C-3PO jutting from a sack on the Wookie's back.

Forenze, a female Fosh who worked as a Rebel medical officer, stood with her fellow captives with a black eye and rumbled, slightly bloodstained clothes, glaring at everyone around.

The traitor Calrissian stood off to one side with a scowl on his face.

There were more guards and techs. Several stormtroopers stood scattered around like life-size paper cut-outs.

Standing out like a sore appendage was the Emperor himself, twisted glee written all over his ugly features.

Standing next to him was his Sith apprentice, Darth Kain himself – once known throughout the galaxy as the highly feared top-notch bounty hunter, Boba Fett.

The female bounty hunter Aurra Sing stood next to Kain, her face just as emotionless, even though she wasn't wearing a helmet like her Sith counterpart.

Near them stood an Imperial officer, Admiral Piett, looking rather ill at the entire scene, and almost if he was having some great internal debate with himself.

And all the while, the stink of liquid carbonite permeated the air around them all, a combined smell of morgues and graves.

The Wookie nodded, calmer now – even though new guards now moved in and put cuffs on him. He understood Han, but he still didn't like it.

Han and Leia looked at each other. The next moment, the emotion took them, and they came together and kissed, trying to seize the moment –

Just then, two stormtroopers jerked Han away, backed him onto the liftplate over the makeshift freezing chamber.

Suddenly, three words erupted from Leia, unbidden: "I love you!"

Brave and strong, Han nodded to her. "I know."

The Ugnaught techs, hardly taller than half Han's height, moved in, unbound his hands, and stepped away.

Han and Leia made eye contact as the liftplate sank, lowering him into the pit. He locked his gaze with hers and held it… until the cloud of freezing vapor boiled up and blocked their view –

Chewie yelled; Leia didn't understand his speech, but she certainly understood his rage, his grief, his feeling of helplessness.

_Han!_

Stinking, acrid gas spewed up and rolled over them, an icy fog, a soul-chilling smoke through which Leia saw Kain watching it all under his inscrutable mask. She heard Threepio sputter, "What – What's going on? Turn 'round! Chewbacca, I can't see!"

She had to get out of there –

* * *

Leia sat up abruptly, her pulse racing, the sheets were sweaty and wadded around her, and her night garment damp. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she looked at the chronometer inset for the time: three hours past midnight. She considered opening a vent to the cool air of the Tatooine night outside. 

_A bad dream,_ she thought. _That's all it was._

But she knew that was a lie. She knew it wasn't some nightmare of possible fears coming true, but was a memory that had actually happened. The man she loved was embedded in a block of carbonite, and had been hauled away like a crate of cargo by a bounty hunter. Now, he was still somewhere out there in the vastness of the galaxy.

She felt the emotions well, felt them threaten to spill out in tears, but she fought them back.

She was Leia Organa, Princess of the Royal Family of Alderaan, elected to the Imperial Senate, a worker in the Alliance to Restore the Republic. However, Alderaan was gone, destroyed by Vader – no, _Tarkin_ – and the Death Star; the Imperial Senate was disbanded; the Alliance was outmanned and outgunned ten thousand to one, but she was who she was.

Leia might not have been a smuggler or pilot like Han Solo, or a Rebel pilot like Luke Skywalker or the other member of the Rebel Alliance's Rogue Squadron, but even in the face of all that, she still followed one philosophy like her friends: _Ignore the overwhelming odds and fight._

She wouldn't cry; she would continue to fight.

* * *

Three hours past midnight, and half the planet slept. 

Luke Skywalker stood barefoot on the steelcrete platform sixty meters above the sand, looking at the taut wire. He wore plain black pants and shirt and a black leather belt. He was also staying at the residence of his first and former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The lights under the canopy were so dim that he could barely see the stranded-steel line. The carnival was done for the night, the acrobats and their dewbacks were fast asleep, and the crowds had long since left.

Luke, who had been training in the ways of the Force for a relatively short time, had just begun to learn the Jedi method of clouding people's minds and their judgment. In fact, he had just used it for the first time minutes ago, to "persuade" the guard to allow him in, who was now still standing outside, oblivious to Luke's presence here.

Luke took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. If he were to fall, he'd surely kill himself, since there wasn't even a net underneath to catch him, just in case. He didn't have to do this, but he chose to do this.

_It's just a good thing that my father isn't here to see this; otherwise he might choke behind his mask._

He could feel himself stare out into space as he thought about his father…

While Luke and Vader were on Dagobah, Yoda revealed the truth to them which had been shirked around for so long: That Darth Vader was not his father's murderer, but his actual father. _His father…_ Once Anakin Skywalker, Luke's father had been corrupted by the Dark side of the force through the manipulations of Darth Sidious – better known throughout the galaxy as Emperor Palpatine. In a sense, Anakin Skywalker did die, reborn as Darth Vader, the new Dark Lord of the Sith.

From there, Luke's memory continued to replay events in order as though watching them on a holovid…

Both Luke and Vader had gotten visions of their friends in trouble, and so they hastily departed from Yoda's home to go rescue them. They arrived… and ended up participating in a fight rather than a rescue.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Cloud City, things were a mess. They had failed to rescue Han from the Empire and whatever bounty hunters they'd employed to hunt him down. Luke's right hand had been cut off by the lightsaber of Vader's successor, the maniacal Darth Kain, and had nearly been killed after that. But Vader was definitely worse off for wear. He had confronted the Emperor, who had tortured him with Force lightning, and then savagely restored the memory of his bitter and evil life as his master's slave, hoping that Vader would be tempted to return to the Dark side. If anything, seeing the grievous errors of his actions in hindsight had only helped solidify the former Sith's resolve more than ever. With his offer harshly declined, the Emperor blasted Vader out of the window of the room they were in, causing him to fall several stories and painfully collide with the ground, nearly killing him.

They had indeed been beaten that day – but it was not the end of the conflict. Not by a long shot…

Luke pushed those thoughts aside for now, ready to try to use the Force in this simple exercise –

Suddenly, as if Yoda were right next to him and listening to his thoughts, his words echoed in Luke's mind: _No… try not. _Do… _or do not. There is no try._

_Of course_, Luke thought to himself. Ready to use the Force in this simple exercise, he called upon it, not as a master summoning his servant but as one friend calling upon another. Now more of Yoda's wisdom echoed in his mind… _The Force is my ally._

With that, he began walking across the wire.

He didn't walk cautiously like the performers who walked the wire, but casually like a pedestrian would along a city sidewalk – in fact, with the Force, the wire seemed as wide as one. Maintaining his concentration, he walked along…

But even as he did so, he could feel more dark, sad memories coming back to haunt him, like from that cave back on Dagobah where the Dark side was strong. His walk turned brisk, and that turned into a jog, and soon enough, Luke was running across the taut wire. As much as he told himself not to think about it, Luke could almost _feel_ the Dark side of the Force catching up with him – and gaining…

* * *

Four hours past midnight, and half the planet slept. 

Darth Vader opened his eyes. Despite the late hour – or early, if one wanted to see it that way – he was not sleeping but meditating. And just moments ago an eerie premonition had touched his awareness.

He sat cross-legged in his private tent in the Tusken encampment, deep in the Jundland Wastes of Tatooine. It had been several months since that day when he arrived, when he allowed the Sandpeople to capture him and take him before their chieftain. It had been his hope that he could do something in restitution to make up for his slaughter of their people so many years ago. By the laws of their kind, he should have been executed on the spot for his actions. But the chieftain, realizing their captive was not only repentant, but had no love for Jabba the Hutt and planned to depose the despot once and for all, had decided upon an alternative sentence. He declared Vader a Tusken and recruited him as a tribal shaman, and when the time was right Vader would lead the Tuskens in a revolt against Jabba.

He stood and ducked out of the tent into the bone-numbing cool of the night. Dome-shaped bantha-hide tents dotted the sands, glowing amber in the light of the fires of the camp guards – women guards, for nearly all the able-bodied Tusken men were at Jabba's palace, keeping his newly captured krayt dragon fed and under control. The tribe's banthas dozed where they had been tethered just outside camp, and here and there slumbered the dappled, spiked hulk of a massif. Overhead, a dark blue sky glittered with the splendors of the cosmos, the three moons the only interruptions in the star-patterned night.

Vader knew that Luke was here on Tatooine as well – with the Force, he could sense his son several miles away – but he knew that his son was in danger.

Not mortal peril – not yet. But someone, somewhere, in that endless blue, wished harm on Luke. As to why, Vader wasn't certain, but he had a mind to find out…

"Out early, Sky-Walker."

He turned at the sound of Chief Red-Dragon's voice. The Tusken leader was scarcely Han's age (approximately thirty standard years), but he had already governed his tribe for five years. He was respected among his kind as a cunning warrior and fair deliverer of justice, and while he was wary of outsiders, he was among the least openly hostile chieftains toward said outsiders.

"The spirits have awakened you?" Red-Dragon continued, fastening his belt as he stepped from the tent he shared with his wife and two small daughters.

"The Force," Vader amended, speaking the Tusken language he had painstakingly learned. "Something threatens my son."

Red-Dragon nodded. "It is dangerous to be a Jedi. Always was, but with the Empire…" He didn't finish. There was no need to.

Vader's gaze returned to the stars. He had a blood debt to be paying here on Tatooine, not to mention a rescue mission to be fulfilling. But if Luke was truly in danger…

_I thought I'd lost my son once. If I lose him again, it will kill me._

"Chief Red-Dragon, I ask your permission to leave for a while. I must aid my son. But I will return, I swear it."

Red-Dragon shook his head, the chain of teeth about his neck clicking and rattling with the movement. "You are bound by the terms of the blood debt to free us from the bondage of Jabba the Hutt, the slaughterer whose demands for a dragon killed half our fighting men and enslaved the rest in his palace to care for the beast. Without you, Sky-Walker, we cannot hope to free ourselves. And if you go to the stars, you might not come back to help us."

"I would come back."

"Not if you die."

Vader let his gaze travel to the chieftain's tent. "Just seven days ago, Red-Dragon, I saw you throw yourself in front of a raging dewback to protect your young Moon-Blossom. You were…" Here, he searched for the right words – Tuskens had no word in their language for "luck," for they didn't believe in the concept, thinking all good and bad fortune was granted by the desert spirits. "You were _blessed_ by the spirits to escape without injury to yourself or your daughter. But you took a risk – you could have died, died when your people needed you. As a chieftain, you must decide what will ultimately help your people more. I understand that. But as a fellow father, surely you can grant me this one reprieve?"

Red-Dragon looked back at his tent, where his oldest daughter hung around in the doorway, still rubbing her eyes sleepily but too eager to eavesdrop to go back to sleep. Then he belted out a hearty laugh that made the nearest sentries start and glare.

"Sky-Walker, you are many things – Jedi, Rebel, Tusken, outsider – but one thing you are not is a fool."

Vader could have argued that point, but now wasn't the time. "Is that a 'yes'?"

Red-Dragon raised a finger skyward. "The moons wane, Sky-Walker. Soon they vanish. Then they wax full and wane again." He then lowered his finger. "You have until then to do what you must do."

One month. He had one month to see what threatened Luke and come back. He just prayed it would be enough.

"Thank you, Red-Dragon," he said gratefully, bowing slightly.

Someone squealed, and Moon-Blossom came running across the sands as fast as her eight-year-old legs would permit. Red-Dragon chuckled as his daughter wrapped her little arms around Vader's knee.

"Want to go with you!" she demanded. "Want to go with Shaman Sky-Walker!"

Vader couldn't help but laugh himself. Moon-Blossom simply idolized him and followed him constantly, seeing him as a hero for aiding in the capture of the krayt dragon. Unfortunately, her infatuation of him tended to remind him of his murder of her people… and another massacre, one involving his own "people," within the sanctuary of the Jedi Temple…

"You cannot come," Vader told her. "You are needed here. You must help your mother and father take care of your baby sister, remember?"

She let go and craned her neck to look into his face. "I will if you bring me a present."

He laughed again. "I can arrange that."

Red-Dragon scooped Moon-Blossom up as Vader turned to his bantha, untied its tether, and mounted. He continued to watch the man as his steed shambled off in the direction of Mos Eisley, the nearest human settlement. Even when Vader had long since vanished into the night, he remained in that spot, still holding a now-dozing Moon-Blossom.

"May the spirits watch over you, Sky-Walker, and may your Force also serve you well," he murmured. "You will need all the guidance you can get."

And with that, he carried his daughter back into their tent.

* * *

It may have been past midnight on Tatooine, but deep in space, it was always "night." 

However, Tomas Piett felt wide awake as he worked alongside some other Rebel pilots and technicians on new Rebel fighters. He volunteered to be a test pilot, especially since he was able to give them Imperial technology that was being developed when he had defected to the Alliance.

All Imperial officers carried their own datadiscs with whatever projects they may have been working on, things they had access to, etc. Just recently, between his defection and Darth Vader getting his memory back, the Alliance had certainly struck platinum that time, with all the information they had gotten out of it.

_Vader…_ Once, Piett had deeply feared the Emperor's right-hand man, as had everyone else, friend or foe, and had so often wished him gone. He got his wish – but as the old saying went, "be careful what you wish for." After having served well long enough under the crazy and homicidal Darth Kain, as well as having witnessed enough Imperial brutality first-hand to completely shatter all of his former misconceptions about the Empire, the former Imperial Admiral defected to the Alliance.

Vader was worried about telling his Rebel superiors that he got his memory back, but stressed that now he had the benefit of hindsight – _cursed_ with hindsight probably would have been more accurate – he now detested the Empire even more than ever before. A few of the high command had been skeptical, and with good reason, but as usual, Mon Mothma vouched for the former Sith.

Piett had been easily accepted into the Rebellion with little fuss, if any at all. Mothma offered to let him keep his rank of Admiral, thinking he deserved the title, but as Piett bitterly replied with a bit of a scoff: "_With Kain in charge, the rank of 'admiral' is more like a euphemism for 'the next scapegoat for when Kain wants someone to blame and then kill.'"_ He also added that he'd probably be better off with a lower rank with less responsibility, much to Mothma's delight and amusement.

The ex-Imperial had requested to serve as a pilot, and after being tested for proficiency in that department with an X-Wing fighter, was then appointed to the rank of Second Commander. In the end, Piett felt quite proud and satisfied with himself.

Speaking of Rebel fighters… what he was helping with now were the test flights of new models the Alliance was manufacturing. Part of the information that was stored on his datadisc had to do with new models which the Empire was also now making – TIE Interceptors. These new, deadly fighters had a special kind of navigation computer in them which normal TIE fighters lacked, one which, if applied to Rebel fighters, would make the need for Astromech droids obsolete. So, not only would the Alliance have its usual X-Wing and Y-Wing fighters, but new fighters – called "A-Wings" and "B-Wings."

"Tomas?" came a voice from behind him. Piett turned around to see Wedge Antilles, practically a veteran pilot of Rogue Squadron. "The new A-Wing prototype is ready to go. The question is, are you _ready_ too?"

Piett replied with a smile, "I sure am." Wedge smiled in return and led the way to where the A-Wing sat in the landing bay of the Rebel ship they were in.

Piett had seemingly no problems whatsoever fitting in with the rest of Rogue Squadron, for what he thought were the following reasons: He defected to the Alliance; he helped them at the "Battle of Cloud City," as it was now being called; Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, respective Commander and Second Commander for the squadron, had said good things about him; and part of the information which he had contributed to the Alliance had helped spawn these new fighters for the Squadron.

The A-Wing was without a doubt one of the smallest fighters Piett had ever seen in his life; voicing his thoughts aloud, he said, "It looks like a flying wedge – no pun intended." Wedge chuckled.

Donning his flight helmet, he climbed into the A-Wing. It was made to be fast, which was clearly evident from its design. It may not have had the fearsome, almost predatory look of, say, an X-Wing… but appearances were often deceiving.

Bringing his systems online, Piett reported over the comm that everything was running just fine. Starting up the engines, the A-Wing hovered off the deck, and flew out of the landing bay, with several X-Wings behind it.

Whatever skepticism Piett may have had about this new little starfighter was quickly forgotten as he smoothly flew through space, getting a feel for how this craft handled. In fact, it almost felt natural, for him to be flying like this.

Imperial officers such as him were never TIE pilots or stormtroopers – those were always clones grown in labs. Here, Piett found yet another layer to the diversity and freedom he found here at the Rebel Alliance.

Piett felt his sense of freedom increase even more as he pulled his A-Wing into a loop around the narrow shaft-like midsection of the medical frigate…

* * *

Mon Mothma gazed out the viewport of her office on Home One, observing Commander Tomas Piett get into friendly fighter duels with the rest of Rogue Squadron in their X-Wings as a series of tests for the new A-Wing model. She was glad to see that Piett was such a contributing member to the Alliance; in fact, all the stress that had marred his features while serving under Darth Kain seemed to be fading away, a good sign that his change in environment, not to mention allegiances, was one of the best decisions of his life. 

"You called, Mon Mothma?"

The leader of the Rebellion turned to see a female Fosh medical officer standing on the threshold – Dr. Vlask Forenze. The first person to befriend Darth Vader after he crashed on Yavin IV, injured and suffering from amnesia, she nursed him back to health and developed a friendly relationship with him.

"Yes, Dr. Forenze. I just wanted to let you know that you will have several new patients to perform tests on once they join the Alliance."

Forenze raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessing there's been a sudden flux in new members?"

Mothma quirked a grin. "You could say that," she said, handing Forzene a datapad.

The Fosh's amber eyes nearly bulged out of her sockets as she saw the numbers. "More than a hundred new members!" she half-shrieked. "How in the name of the Force did this come to happen?"

Mothma was smiling now. "Apparently, it seems that Piett's act of defiance has become something of an inspiration to other Imperial officers suffering under Darth Kain's insane rule. A lot of these new recruits are former Imperial officers who have, quite frankly, had enough with serving what they now know to be a corrupt Empire. Add those on to the average recruits we normally get…"

Forenze's eyes started to glow a little as she realized what her superior was hinting at. "Being Rebels, we're all defiant by nature against the Empire… but thanks to Piett, it's starting to eat away at them like a virus!"

Mon Mothma was by no means a vindictive woman, but she did get a certain kind of pleasure by watching the Empire crumble, bit by bit, while former Imperials fled the Rebel Alliance. "Precisely, Doctor," she said. "If you need any supplies for all our new recruits, please feel free to let me know."

Forenze nodded as she departed. With her moods now uplifted, Mothma went back to observing Rogue Squadron doing what they did best…

* * *

Xizor leaned back in his form chair. The chair interpreted this move as an inquiry – which it then gave while demonstrating how its voxchip needed to be repaired: "What is your wish, Prince Sheeezor?" The Falleen prince shook his head at how it slurred out the first syllable of his name like that. "It is my wish that you be silent, chair," he commanded. 

Obediently, the chair's vox shut up. The cloned leather seat hummed and adjusted the support to Xizor's new position. He sighed. He was rich beyond the income of many entire planets, and yet he had a malfunctioning form chair that couldn't even pronounce his own name correctly? No, that wouldn't do. He made a note to get it replaced – now, today, immediately – as soon as he was finished with his business here this morning.

Currently, the Dark Prince was in the middle of deciding whether or not to hire two new people for Black Sun. They were Epicanthix women known as the Pike sisters, and the holoproj he was observing showed the two of them using _teräs_ _käsi_ (the Bunduki art called "steel hands") taking down several armed and well-trained Imperial stormtroopers without even breaking a sweat. They were beautiful yet deadly, a combination he enjoyed. There were several advantages in hiring them, and, as far as he could see, no disadvantages. So, with a simple command, he told Guri to make it so.

Guri nodded and departed. With her long, silky blond hair her pale, clear blue eyes and her exquisite figure that was beautiful from any angle, she was quite attractive. In fact, some human males attracted to her might say she was too good to be true: They would be right. Guri was not human, but an HRD (Human Replica Droid) who could pass off as a normal human female, and even eat and drink like one. Her ability to avoid drawing such attention and suspicion to herself was also quite useful when it came to some other things she did, like killing without hesitation. She had cost Xizor nine million credits, but was worth every one of them. Too bad her creator was no longer among the living.

Credits were nothing to him; he practically had an ocean of billions, with more flowing in all the time from rivers of revenue. To Xizor, it was only a way of keeping score, nothing more.

Xizor glanced up at the ceiling of his office, where he'd had the pattern of the galaxy installed into the glowtiles. When the lights were dim – and they usually were – he had an edge-on view of the home galaxy floating holographically there, with more than a million individual glowing dust-small stars hand-drawn in it. It had taken the artist a few months to get it done and was worth a small fortune, but it was doubtlessly worth it in the end. Xizor liked to simply gaze upon it whenever he wanted to unwind, and sometimes liked to play this game with himself to see if he could successfully spot which areas of the galaxy where his influence was.

His galactic influence was surpassed only by the Emperor himself and the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Kain.

Third – but about to become _second_, if his plans went as intended. It had been months now since he'd seen the holo of Luke Skywalker learning the truth about his father, who was now known throughout the galaxy as Darth Vader. It had also been months since he'd overheard the Emperor and Darth Kain discussing how they would capture Skywalker and Vader – or kill them both. It had been months, and now the preliminaries were done. Xizor was ready to start getting things rolling.

_Soon, revenge will be mine…_

Checking the time from his room computer, he saw that he had that appointment an hour from now. It was but a short walk through the protected corridor's of Kain's, not much beyond where the Emperor's massive gray-green stone and mirror-crystal palace thrust itself up into the high atmosphere. A few kilometers, no more; a brisk stroll would put him there in a few minutes. He wouldn't hurry, because he did not want to arrive early.

A chime announced a visitor. It looked as though Xizor could take care of one other thing before meeting with Kain.

Mayth Duvel, one of his sublieutentants, came in with a petition from the Nezriti Organization, and it seemed they wished for an alliance with Black Sun. Xizor accepted a small package from Duvel, which was a token of their esteem. It was an oval-cut, bloodred Tumanian pressure-ruby that was easily worth several million credits. After contemplating the small gem, he told Duvel that he would consider it. Duvel bowed, backed away, and left.

After he was gone, Xizor stood and stretched. It was time to go see what Darth Kain wanted. Normally, he would have had more meetings and business to handle at this time, but when Sith lords who rule over you summon you for meetings, you don't argue. He pushed the thoughts of his plots and plans aside, not just because it was not the time and place to be thinking about them, but because he had to make it look as though there was no connection between himself and Kain, nothing that would arouse suspicion from anyone.

Xizor didn't worry about his plans succeeding, because they always did.

And this one plan for revenge was one whose success he was _greatly_ looking forward to.

* * *

A/N: How was this, for showing all the different points of view, including those of Vader and Piett? 

Note about Rebel fighters: If I'm not mistaken, different types of Rebel fighters were manufactured in this order: Y-Wing, X-Wing, A-Wing, B-Wing. Furthermore, their weapons are like this: Y-Wings have two lasers and two proton torpedo launchers, plus a couple of ion cannons or something; X-Wings have four lasers and two proton torpedo launchers; A-Wings have two lasers and two concussion missile launchers; and B-Wings have three lasers and three proton torpedo launchers.

Note about Vader, Piett, and possibly also Forenze: When doing things from Rebel points of view, I'm going to try and make sure that they get equal "screentime" with the others. Also, as for Piett's first name… well, you just may be surprised later on. Sorry, but that's all I'm going to say for now! _(Wink wink!)_

Next chapter is where the good guys plan and the bad guys plot… –_Quillian_


	3. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER:** See the Prologue.  
**SPECIAL DISCLAIMER:** See the Prologue.  
_**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:**_ See the Prologue.

NOTE: The scene with Leia in the bar has been taken from the novel and edited to show her _really_ dealing with her unwanted suitors. Also, the scene with Xizor has been edited to show his old rivalry with Darth Vader mixed with his new rivalry with Darth Kain. (PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED SINCE THE FIRST TIME IT WAS POSTED.)

* * *

**Chapter 2 **

Leia sat in a bad cantina in the bad part of Mos Eisley.

A person really had to work hard at it to earn both those distinctions. Calling this place a dive would have elevated it four notches. Between the cheapness, the heat, the variety of drinks and meals, and that god-awful smell, the only good thing about this place was that it was dim enough so that she didn't have to look too closely at the patrons – from a dozen different species and none of them particularly good-looking examples at that.

Lando chose this place for them to meet in, which to Leia did not seem worth it. She'd considered the possibility that he chose this place just to get a rise out of her; she just hoped for his sake that that wasn't the case.

Right now, Leia rather envied Dr. Forenze; the Fosh had originally gone with Lando to check out Jabba's palace in the hopes of infiltrating it, disguising themselves among Jabba's throng of "loyal" employees. However, after her and Lando's first failed attempts to do so, the Alliance contacted her with coincidental timing, telling her she was needed back with the Rebel Fleet.

Not that Leia was sitting here in this dingy place all alone; Chewbacca the Wookiee was sitting right next to her, but even then, not by her own choice. In fact, he kept following her around so close that he could occasionally be confused as part of her wardrobe.

Lando had explained it to her: Something about a life debt between Han and Chewie, and since Han told Chewie to look out for her, he would do so until he said otherwise.

Leia had tried to persuade Chewie that it wasn't necessary, but even her best and most refined diplomatic skills couldn't get Chewie to budge. It looked as though she was just going to have to dutifully get used to him following her around as her bodyguard

Another good reason to get Han back: So Chewie would stop being her bodyguard.

Unbidden, some words she had said long ago seemed to come back to haunt her: _"Will someone please get this big walking carpet out of my way?"_

_If there ever was a price for saying that, then I'm probably paying it right now_, Leia thought, shaking her head.

Then again… even though she would most likely never admit it, there were times when having a two-meter-tall Wookiee as a bodyguard was an advantage. This was one of those times, in this wonderful place.

During the past hour, Leia had had to get closer looks of the patrons than she would have liked. Despite the fact she wore threadbare worker's clothes and had her hair drawn up into an unattractive bun, and also avoided meeting anyone's gaze, there had been a steady stream of various humans and aliens coming to visit her table. Never mind that a fully grown and armed Wookiee sat right next to her, making it quite clear they weren't welcome, they still kept trying to pick her up, that just didn't seem to deter them.

Sometimes, it seemed like males of whatever species were always interested in females of whatever species, when they wanted some female company.

The latest newcomer was a drunken Bith who banged into the table, earning him a growl from Chewie. The Bith took one look at Chewie, hiccupped, and stumbled away.

Leia turned to Chewie and said, "Here, you know what? How about _I_ handle whoever comes by next?"

Chewie looked at her with consideration of her idea mixed in with some amusement, and then gave an affirmative answer as if to say, _"This ought to be good."_

Barely minutes later, the next one in the rotation came up to them. This one was a Devaronian, a horned humanoid who – surprise, surprise – wanted to buy Leia a drink.

Leia tried as politely as she could to decline his offer, but unfortunately, the Devaronian just wouldn't give up. He tried to convince her to let him have a drink with her, but he just couldn't take a hint. That and the fact that he was looking all the more demonic as he tried to persuade her.

They say that actions speak louder than words, and since words had failed, Leia decided it was time to use action. She pulled the small blaster she had tucked into her coverall pocket, and brought it out over the table where the Devaronian could see it. She then pointed it at the ceiling and thumbed the power setting button from "stun" to "kill." He saw that, too.

This guy must have been really oblivious, because in a last-ditch attempt to succeed, he even pulled out his "stimulating" Weranian holocards and held them in his outstretched hand. Leia just felt something inside of her snap as she suddenly aimed the blaster and pulled the trigger. For a split second, she could see his holocards, marked with scantily clad alien figures – just before a blaster bolt fried right through them.

The Devaronian yelped from surprise, not pain, and looked at Leia with wide eyes. The rest of the bar went silent and turned to look in their direction. Leia just sat there, blaster still pointed, and currently unable to believe that she herself just did that. _Good stars, did I just do that?_ she thought to herself.

Very quickly, the Devaronian changed his tune and his tactics, and said, "Ah, well, perhaps another time. I, ah, just recalled that, ah, I left the converter charging on my ship. You'll excuse me."

He hurried away; it was truly amazing how waving a blaster around and even firing it could improve an obnoxious would-be suitor's manners.

With the spectacle over, everyone went back to their conversations and business as though nothing had even happened.

Chewie looked at her with something akin to awe.

"If you're going to comment about how I picked that up from Han or how he'd be impressed by that, then don't," she told him, snapping out of her trance.

Chewie murmured a growl and gave a small shrug as if to say, _"I didn't say anything."_

She put the safety back on and tucked the blaster away, and then went back to fiddling with the stir stick in her drink. Lando was going to pay for calling the meeting in this hole… _somehow._

Leia's mouth quirked into a grin as she recalled a few years back when Rogue Squadron had had it with their tough commander, Ghede Ironmoon, and went about pulling pranks on him, doing everything from "reprogramming" his Astromech droid to "redecorating" his things.

She was just wondering how Lando would look covered from head to toe in pink goop when somebody opened the door and a flash of hot light spilled into the dank bar. Outlined in the doorway was a human who, for just a second, reminded her of Han.

Leia sighed. Up until that moment before he was frozen in carbonite, she didn't know for sure that she actually loved him. But then again, crisis had that strange way of making people act certain ways and revealing things about themselves. All those times like back in the short-lived Rebel base on Hoth, she took advantage of the times she and Han had fought and bickered over every little thing, earning the annoyance of everyone else. Now that Han was so far beyond her reach that she didn't even know where he was, Leia regretted how she'd acted towards him. And all the same, Han knew she'd loved him – or so he claimed right before he was dropped into the freezing chamber. It was now true, and Leia was now beyond the point of no return: Leia Organa, the skilled princess and diplomat, loved Han Solo, the risk-taking pirate and smuggler.

She just couldn't stop thinking about it…

"Buy you a drink, beautiful?" somebody said from behind her.

Still rather uptight, she spun around and whipped her blaster out so fast that she nearly pulled the trigger by accident in the process.

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy!" the newcomer said, raising his hands into the air. It was Lando. A moment later, he looked at her and asked quietly, "You're not still mad at me, are you?"

_Smooth move, Leia,_ she thought to herself. "How did you get in here?" she asked, once she had calmed down and put her blaster away again.

"Back door," he said simply with a smile and a shrug.

Behind him were the droids C-3PO and R2-D2. Artoo's dome swiveled as he took in the bar, while Threepio, who was the most skittish droid Leia had ever been around, managed to look nervous even though he could not change his gold-plated facial expression.

Artoo whistled something to his counterdroid.

"Yes, I see that," Threepio said. A short pause. "Master Lando, wouldn't it be better if we waited outside? I don't think they like droids in this place. We're the only ones here."

Lando smiled. "Relax. Nobody is going to both you. I know the owner. Besides, I don't want you alone outside. You might find this hard to believe, but this town is full of _thieves_." He opened his eyes wide in mock amazement and waved his hands to take in the bar and the port around it. "You wouldn't want to wind up shoveling sand on some moisture farm, now would you?"

"Oh, dear me, no. I've already been on this planet once before and I got kidnapped by Jawas."

Artoo chided Threepio with something.

"Yes, Artoo, I do realize that if it hadn't been for that, we probably would have never met Master Luke," Threepio retorted.

Artoo made what sounded like a rude noise.

"Don't make me kick you again," Threepio said in a low tone, trying to sound tough.

Leia smiled and tried to fight down her laughter while Lando and Chewie shared a good laugh over that. What a band of characters she'd wound up with. Two funny droids, Lando Calrissian the gambler, Chewbacca the Wookiee, Luke the –

Where was Luke? He was a Jedi, or at least one in training. He also must have been awfully important, given how badly Emperor Palpatine seemed to want him. She'd heard rumors that the Emperor wasn't particular in how he wanted Luke, either alive or dead, but of course those were only rumors. While she definitely loved Han, she also felt something for Luke.

Another complication she did not need. Why wasn't life simpler?

Come to think of it, even without her fellow Rebel Vader currently in the picture, life was still rather complicated.

"I think we've got the _Steel Nexu_ spotted," Lando said quietly.

That was Aurra Sing's ship. The bounty hunter who had taken Han from Cloud City. "What? Where?"

"A moon called Gall, circling Zhar, a gas giant out in one of the Rim Systems. The information is third-hand, but the informant chain is supposed to be reliable."

"We've heard _that_ before," she said.

Lando merely shrugged. "We can sit and wait or we can go see. The bounty hunter should have delivered Han to Jabba months ago. She's got to be someplace. I've got a contact in that system, an old gambling buddy who does a little… shall we say, _freelance cargo delivery._ His name is Dash Rendar. He's checking it out for us."

Leia smiled again. "Freelance cargo delivery" was a euphemism for "smuggling."

"You really trust him, Lando?"

"Well, as long as my money holds out… yeah."

"Fine. How soon will we know?"

"A few days."

Leia looked around. "Anything would be better than waiting here."

Lando flashed his bright smile again. "Mos Eisley is known as the galaxy's armpit," he said. "I guess there are worse parts of the anatomy where we could be stuck," he added with a shrug.

Leia rolled her eyes at that comment. Chewie said something.

Lando shook his head in response. "No, I don't know why she'd be there. There's a shipyard on the moon; maybe she needed repairs. Something serious had to hold her up, because Jabba won't pay her until she gets there."

Chewie said something else.

"Yeah, I'm afraid so." Lando then looked at Leia. "Gall is an Imperial Enclave. Got a couple of destroyers based there, plus all the TIE fighters that come with them. If Sing's ship is there, it won't be easy to get to her."

"When has anything been easy since I met you?" she asked. "Let me ask you something, Lando. Of all the crummy places in the port, why did you choose _this_ one?" Here, she gestured towards the rest of the bar.

Lando didn't look fazed. "Well, I _do_ know the owner. He owes me a bet we made once. I get to eat and drink here for free for whenever I'm in town."

"Oh, boy. What a thrill that must be. You ever try to eat anything in this place?"

"I haven't been that hungry yet, no."

Leia shook her head. Her life had certainly been interesting since she'd fallen in with these guys. But it was like Lando had just said about Aurra Sing: Everybody had to be someplace.

Until they found Han, this was as good as any.

Leia said, "Maybe we better go tell Luke."

* * *

Piett was walking down the halls of Home One with Wedge and some of the other members of Life Squadron when a voice from a doorway called out to him.

"Piett?"

He turned to see a familiar face looking back right at him.

"_Veers_? Good stars, is that really you?"

Maximilian Veers stood in the doorway of some sort of conference room. "Yes, Piett, it's really me."

"What are you doing here?"

"Same as you, of course; I can't stand working for the Empire anymore. Kain is even worse than Vader ever was, and even the cloning and recruitment programs aren't compensating enough for how many people are being killed or are deserting."

Recruitment programs? Ah yes, Piett remembered now: The Empire recruited young men as stormtroopers in return for free educations. Piett had forgotten that fact during his time serving under Kain, most likely because of all the stress that went with it.

"Ah, now I remember you," Wedge said, squinting. "You led the attack against us on Hoth."

Veers had the good grace to look ashamed. "Well, if it's any consolation… sorry about that."

Rocky huffed something in the Wookiee tongue, and then his translator kicked in: "Then again, if we could accept someone like Piett here or even Vader into our ranks, then I suppose anything goes."

"Not that I can speak for the rest of the Rebellion," Ar'ya added, "But I'm almost grateful to Veers and everyone else who attacked us on Hoth; if it hadn't been for them attacking us when they did, I'd still have been freezing my limbs off there."

"Anyway," Veers continued to say, "You're something of a hero – an underdog, if you will. Now, thanks to you, more and more Imperials are deserting all the time."

In a strange sort of way, Piett was flattered.

"In fact…" now Veers had a parsec-wide grin on his face. "I think maybe you should see for yourself."

Here he gestured to the room from which he was originally in, and Piett took a look, and consequently felt his jaw drop.

There were nearly two hundred new recruits in this conference room alone, and more than half of them were human men still wearing Imperial uniforms of different colors; Piett even recognized a few as former subordinates from the _Executor_. After that, there were other humans who were obviously new recruits as opposed to Imperial defects, and mixed in were some nonhuman recruits. There were Wookies, Twi'leks, Biths, Duros, Zabraks, Falleen, Quarrens, Sullustans… and was that a Trandoshan and a Ho'din over there?

Just then, a Rodian recruit pointed at Piett and garbled something in her own language, and everyone turned to look at Piett, awe written across their faces.

"See, what did I say?" Veers told him, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

Piett felt the heat rise to his face, embarrassed. He would have never expected this.

"It's too bad, though, that some of our older and closer friends didn't also defect," commented Veers. "Or _couldn't_."

"Really?" Piett said, turning to face him. "Like who?"

"Like good old Ferron, for one. Poor guy is now trying to get the second Death Star completed on time. Then again, it could be hard to sneak out when you're constantly trying to manage this huge 'construction project.'"

Piett remembered now: Ferron Jerjerrod. Another old friend from long ago, he and Piett both worked as Senate guards during the time of the Old Republic.

So, Ferron was also having a hard time under Kain? Maybe he would also be willing to get away from the Empire… Piett mentally filed that idea away for later.

"So, this is Piett, huh?" said a woman as she walked up to them. With dark skin, short black hair and a shapely figure, this new recruit introduced herself to Piett. "My name is Tiphanie Earlystar, and it's a pleasure to meet you, Firmus."

Veers blinked and did a double take. "'Firmus'?"

_"'Firmus'?"_ the other Rogue Squadron pilots repeated incredulously behind Piett, who now looked down at the floor, embarrassed.

"What?" asked Tiphanie. "It says right in your Rebel profile that your first name is –"

"I know what my real name _was_," blurted out Piett, his face now red from embarrassment. "However, I changed it to 'Tomas'. I was hoping that no one would ever find out, but now…"

"Sorry," Tiphanie said, "but I guess that sometimes Sith happens, huh?"

* * *

Xizor left his four bodyguards in the antechamber and went into Darth Kain's personal meeting room. The guards were trained in several forms of hand-to-hand combat and were all armed with a blaster each and were excellent shots at that… but still, it wouldn't have mattered if he had four, forty or even _four hundred_ guards with him if Kain wanted to harm him, because he was able to use that mysterious Force which could allow him to block blaster bolts or freeze a victim's heart or lungs, just like that. No one challenges Darth Kain; it was a lesson which many had learned the hard way but most had not lived to profit from.

Of course, the same could also be said for Kain's _predecessor…_

Fortunately, however, Xizor enjoyed the Emperor's patronage, and as long as that was the case, then Kain would not dare harm him. Well, at least in theory, anyway.

The room was nearly spare. There were only the necessities here in this room: A long table and several nonreactive chairs of dark greel wood, and a holoplate and a viewer. As a person who had much wealth but cared for little for wealth itself, Kain didn't decorate the room with any signs of his wealth.

Acutally… while there were no signs of Kain's commanded wealth as a Sith lord, that didn't mean it wasn't decorated at all. Miscellaneous skulls filled the room – some belonging to humans and other sentient races, some non-sentient – and Xizor wondered if Kain organized his meeting room in this fashion to get a message across. All the trophies and other mementos from Kain's days as a bounty hunter gave a sinister kind of feel to the atmosphere, as though he had just walked into a room of death itself.

Xizor sat himself down at the table and allowed himself to appear completely relaxed, as though he had nothing to worry about. He knew that Kain had a room full of monitoring technicians hidden away in a room somewhere inside the castle, monitoring his every move, looking for something to be concerned about.

Figuring that the poor technicians were probably bored right about now, Xizor decided to make things a little more interesting and allowed himself a tight grin. _That_ ought to give the techs something to think about: _Uh-oh, he's smiling – what do you suppose _that _means?_

Of course, at the same time, he also had Kain under constant surveillance whenever he was outside his own castle. As a matter of fact, Black Sun's own spynet was the best in the galaxy, even better than the Empire's own. Well, perhaps the Bothans were _slightly_ better…

The wall at the opposite end of the room slid aside silently, and Kain stood there, quite dramatic in his cape and black uniform, and completely silent from behind his helmet with its silver visor.

Xizor stood and offered a military bow. "Lord Kain."

"Prince Xizor," Kain offered in return, his raspy voice now speaking. He didn't bow in return, but Xizor ignored it. Since this was all being recorded and most likely to be viewed by the Emperor later on, the Falleen prince intended to be the soul of grace, the epitome of politeness, the acme of good manners.

"You asked to see me, Lord Kain. How may I be of service to you?"

Kain stepped into the room, and the door slid shut behind him. He made no move to sit – no surprise there. Xizor also remained standing.

Kain said, "My master bids me to arrange for a fleet of your cargo ships to deliver supplies to our bases on the Rim."

"But of course," Xizor said. "My entire operation is at your disposal; I am always happy to aid the Empire in any way that I can."

Xizor was referring to his legitimate shipping operations, Xizor Transport Systems. Considering how much of the money from Black Sun's illicit activities was funneled into XTS, his business was not only quite extensive, but enough to make him a very wealthy and powerful person, even without the rest of his wealth from _other_ means.

Kain was also aware that the holocams were upon him, and so he decided to make a comment for the record. "In the past, it seems as if your company has been slow to respond to _Imperial_ requests." Here, Kain put special emphasis on the word "Imperial," as though implying that the Empire was the best and most important organization in the galaxy, and demanded special attention.

"It embarrasses me to say that you are correct, Lord Kain. However, those individuals are no longer employed by my company."

Point, counterpoint. Kain carefully jabbed using a fine point, and Xizor parried. In the past, when Darth Vader was still the Emperor's right-hand man, each conversation he had with the Dark Lord of the Sith was thus, an obvious surface dialogue with much hidden in the depths below it. These days, the only thing that had changed in that respect was that it was now Darth Kain instead whom he verbally sparred with. Overall, it was a kind of competition, in which each player tried to score, like two brothers trying to outdo each other in the eyes of a critical father.

Xizor did not consider Vader nor Kain to be anything like a nest-brother, however. _Especially_ not Vader. He might not have known it, but he was a mortal enemy to the Dark Prince of Black Sun.

Ten years ago, Vader had a pet project, research on a biological weapon. He established a hazard lab on Xizor's home planet of Falleen. There had been an accident at the supposedly secure facility. A mutant tissue-destroying bacterium somehow escaped quarantine. In order to save the planet's population from a horrible, rotting, always fatal infection for which there was no cure, the city around the lab had been "sterilized".

"Sterilized" was a euphemism for "incinerated from orbit," and thus among the incinerated were buildings, streets, homes, and most importantly of all, _people. _

Two hundred thousand Falleen had been killed by sterilization lasers crisscrossing the domed metropolis from orbit. The Empire considered itself lucky to have only lost that number when the necrotizing bacteria could have killed billions, and maybe even escaped offworld to infect other planets. It had been a close call, but the cost had been relatively minor – that is, in the opinion of the Empire.

In the opinion of _Darth Vader_.

Among the dead were Xizor's mother, father, brother, two sisters, and three uncles. He had been offworld at the time, cementing his control of Black Sun into place; otherwise he would have been another one of the victims himself.

He had never spoken of the tragedy. Through the offices of Black Sun, he had caused his family's deaths to be erased from Imperial records… and then eliminated the operatives themselves who had done the deed, just to be safe. Nobody knew that Xizor the Dark Prince had personal reasons to detest Darth Vader. It would be natural to see the two as rivals for the Emperor's favor, and there was no way to hide that, but of the other, no one save Xizor had any inkling.

Xizor had been patient. It was never a question of "if," only a matter of "when" he would repay Vader in kind.

However, Vader's current status as a former Imperial and Sith, now a Rebel pilot, certainly made things more complicated – but also more _interesting_. For the past few years, Xizor had followed the twists and turns of Vader's life. When the Empire's Death Star exploded in Yavin's orbit, Vader crashed on the Rebel moon, severely injured and without his memory. The leader of the Rebel Alliance, that ever-so-compassionate Mon Mothma, had refused to put Vader on trial, feeling it wasn't right to put an amnesiac on trial for crimes he couldn't remember. Instead, she offered for him to join the Rebellion – an offer which he accepted, much to everyone's shock and some people's disgust. It had taken some time, but by the Second Battle of Yavin, he was trusted by the majority of the Rebellion.

Xizor himself still remembered the very moment when he heard the news, and of all the different things he felt in response, hope was among them. Hope not only to destroy a now-weakened Darth Vader, but that he would now replace the former Imperial cyborg as the Emperor's right-hand man.

However, one could only imagine Xizor's own shock and disgust when he had been overlooked by the Emperor in favor of his new apprentice, Darth Kain – formerly known as the respected and feared top-notch bounty hunter Boba Fett. Why in all the realms of all the galaxy's religions Fett had been chosen over Xizor was beyond the Falleen… at first. One of Black Sun's agents had been spying on Fett, disguised as just another prisoner, when the Emperor had him taken into Imperial custody, and relayed the conversation to Xizor. It seemed the Emperor had purposely selected Fett for his hatred for the Jedi, since his own father was killed by a Jedi Master at the beginning of the Clone Wars. Also, according to his "imprisoned" agent, Xizor learned that Emperor Palpatine was able to bestow the mysterious and powerful Force upon Fett… merely by giving him blood transfusions from Force-strong people, however painful the process itself would be.

However, Boba Fett's being chosen to be the Emperor's new Force-strong apprentice was only the first in a list of reasons for Xizor's ire.

Once Fett had officially become Darth Kain, he had become cocky and superior to everyone else under him, Grand Moffs, Grand Admirals and all others alike, as though he had been superior to them all his life – including Xizor, whom Fett had actually worked for many times as a bounty hunter.

After that, there was Kain's tendency to execute multiple people at random, especially for insignificant things, something which even Darth Vader never did. This wouldn't have bothered Xizor at all, if it weren't for the fact that quite a few of those victims had been some of his own people and contacts, which made their deaths a problem for Black Sun.

And to top it all off, there was that first meeting between Xizor and Kain more than three years ago, after the Second Battle of Yavin. Xizor had politely and respectfully greeted Kain, congratulating him on his new position as the Emperor's right-hand man; without warning, Kain suddenly responded by Force-choking Xizor, telling the suffocating Falleen prince that if he wasn't careful, he would meet the same end as the rest of his family.

Kain immediately stopped when the Emperor told them off, but even with the pain in his lungs subsiding, Xizor instead felt a burning hatred in his heart. By unjustifiably throttling Xizor and then saying _that_ about his family, Kain had made himself into yet another enemy on Prince Xizor's long list of enemies. From that point onward, Kain was now as bad in Xizor's eyes as Vader was.

Simply put: If Vader was Xizor's most hated enemy, then Kain was a _very_ close second.

Besides… bounty hunters turned Sith lords shouldn't criticize about other people's dead family members when their own fathers went and got themselves decapitated by Jedi Masters when their equipment malfunctioned.

Back to Vader… Xizor knew all about the short-lived "Battle of Bespin" as it was now being called, where several months before, another one of Xizor's agents had recorded the encounter between the Emperor and Vader in Cloud City. From a nearby building and using state-of-the-art spying equipment, this Black Sun agent had recorded the entire conversation between the Emperor and his former apprentice. Xizor enjoyed the whole drama of the Emperor torturing Vader, restoring his memory in the hopes of gaining his former apprentice back… and then the old corpse blasted Vader out the window with Force lightning when he refused. Xizor was actually chuckling at the last part, and almost cheered when he saw that happen.

Now that Vader had his memory back… it would make revenge much sweeter, in Xizor's opinion, than if he had remained an amnesiac. In a strange sort of way, it was almost a shame that Vader was no longer the Emperor's right-hand man – the saying "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" came to mind there. If Vader were still the Sith lord he once was, Xizor would have been able to spear two fleek-eels with same trident: Vader the impediment to his power and Vader the killer of his family would both be… removed.

Ah, well… at least with the current way things were, he'd be able to settle the score with even more people that just Vader. Not only would the Underlord of Black Sun inflict untold pain on Vader by killing his only offspring and remaining family, but he would also be able to make Kain look bad in the eyes of the Emperor. That was the key to Xizor's plan: He knew that he couldn't kill a Sith lord who was his rival – being Vader, Kain or even both – but he could still make their lives _very _miserable. He would leave the former Dark Lord emotionally broken and without anything to live for, as well as leave the current Dark Lord disgraced and dishonored, just waiting to be tossed aside by his beloved master.

After all, loyalty and devotion towards a subordinate was not a virtue which Palpatine had, as his abandonment of Vader showed – who was to say that Kain was not just as expandable, if circumstances made it so?

Xizor felt a smile but held it, lest it be seen by Kain and the gazes of his hidden holocams. Yes, that would be justice –

"We will need three hundred ships," Kain said, his raspy voice cutting into Xizor's thoughts like a rusty blade. "Half of them tankers, and half of them dry cargo transports. Standard Imperial delivery contracts, as usual. There is a large… _construction_ project of which you are aware. Can you supply the vessels, dear friend Xizor?" he finished pleasantly.

Xizor repressed the urge to raise an eyebrow at his sudden change in attitude. _Good stars, what drug is this man on?_ he thought to himself.

"Yes, my lord. You need but tell me where and when you desire them and I will make it so. And Imperial terms are acceptable."

Kain stood silently for a moment, and the room was completely silent.

_He didn't expect that,_ Xizor thought. _He thought I might argue or try to haggle over the price. Good._

"Good. I'll have the fleet supply admiral contact you with details." This last part was ground out, as though Kain had instead lost somehow and was bitter over it.

_Does Kain have a multiple personality disorder or something? Or is he just incapable of making up his mind about how to feel?_

"It is my honor to serve," Xizor said. Again he gave Kain a military bow, a bit lower and slower than before.

Anybody watching would only see how eager and courteous to please Xizor was…

Without another word, Kain turned back towards the room's portal. The wall slid back again, and he swept from the room.

…And anybody watching would see how close to the edge of rudeness Lord Kain walked. Not to mention the edge of _insanity_ itself.

Again, Xizor allowed himself a tiny smile.

_You think you're better off than Vader ever was, Kain? Or, should I say, Boba Fett? You've just inherited more from your predecessor than you can ever have imagined, Fett, and then some. And when the time is right… I'll be laughing over your downfall._

Everything was going according to plan.

* * *

Drawing his hood up over his helmeted head, Vader jumped off the bantha, appreciatively patted it, and sent it back on its way to the Tusken camp from whence they came. His plan was to meet his soon at Obi-wan Kenobi's old home, and to get their via the _Desert Angel_, his restored and unique Naboo N-1 starfighter.

However, as Vader walked over one last dune in order to reach Mos Eisley spaceport, he felt as though he had something coming on…

_But why?_ he thought. _I haven't been having any more flashbacks since my memory was completely restored…_ Here, he gave an involuntary shudder, recalling that awful experience when he was last in the presence of the Emperor, back at Cloud City on Bespin.

Vader felt some emotions; he felt rivalry… humiliation… envy… smugness… _triumph…_ And for a few seconds which seemed to last more like a few hours, Vader saw something: Darth Kain standing in a bare room, seeming to be in conversation with someone… yet from his angle, Vader couldn't see _who_ it was, but he _could_ see something reflected in the T-shaped visor of Kain's helmet…

But as quickly as it came, it lingered for a moment before finally passing.

_What the stang was all that about?_ He thought to himself.

_Wait a minute… that wasn't a memory._ He was actually feeling something at that very moment, something to do with the Emperor or Kain… or maybe even both.

Kain was meeting with someone at that _very moment_…

Vader focused on the vision again. However, all he could make out was the reflection of what seemed to be another person… with green skin.

Unfortunately, seeing as how plenty of people in the galaxy had green skin, that really didn't narrow it down by much.

And yet… those emotions also felt familiar… as though associated with the same person whom Kain was currently with…

_Could I have also had something to do with this person who Kain is now with?_ Vader wondered. Well, that would certainly explain it. However, he couldn't quite place it in his recently-restored memory…

He'd have to think about this.

Now focusing once again on the matter at hand, he continued with his entry into the wretched hive of scum and villainy that lay ahead.

* * *

A/N: Personally, I think I like how this turned out, especially with my twist on Xizor in this alternate universe. Now, he's waging a secret war on two fronts: Against both Vader _and_ Kain.

Note about Leia and the Devaronian: Personally, I liked the touch with the blaster.

Note about first names: Veers' first name in canon is indeed "Maximilian." Some of you may be surprised that he should join the Rebellion, but as Mandi said in an email to me: _"I can imagine even a few hours under their leadership would make even Tarkin go crying to the Alliance if the opportunity arose…"_ As for Piett and Jerjerrod…

**"Tomas" Piett:** Both Mandi and I agreed that "Firmus" (Piett's official first name in canon) just has some potentially bad connotations to it. Mandi suggested "Tomas," which I liked. However, it was sometime later when I pointed out that incidentally, there was a man in the Bible named Thomas the Doubter, and Piett does doubt (as well as question and defy) the Empire.

**"Ferron" Jerjerrod:** This was a name I came up with, and can have multiple meanings. There's the Latin word for "iron," both the noun (_ferrum, -i_, n.) and the adjective (_ferreus, -a, -um_); after all, Jerjerrod _is_ overseeing the construction of the second Death Star, which is probably made out of iron or other metals… or maybe he has an iron-clad will to defy and get even with Darth Kain after what happens in "Recompense"? There's also the Latin adjective (_ferox, -ocis_), which means "fierce, ferocious," or in some cases, "warlike," "defiant," or "arrogant," all of which also describe Jerjerrod well. Finally, there's also the irregular Latin verb (_fero, ferre, tuli, latum_), which means "to bear, carry, bring," or in some cases, "to lead," "to suffer," "to endure," or "to tolerate"… then again, Jerjerrod _does_ all of these at one point or another under Kain…

Note about Tiphanie Earlystar: Her first name is a different way of spelling the name "Tiffanie," and I would like to thank Tiffanie Early from the LukeVader Yahoo group for allowing me to use her funny siggy ("Sith Happens") as long as she had a character named after her.

Note about Kain's old trophies: I was reminded of two different things when I wrote this in: The collection of alien skulls from _Predator 2_ and, strangely enough, the room full of hunting trophies which causes Ace to flip out in _Ace Ventura 2_.

Next chapter is where we see Luke again… _–Quillian_


	4. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER:** See the Prologue.  
**SPECIAL DISCLAIMER:** See the Prologue.  
_**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:**_ See the Prologue.

A/N: **Well, I have edited the prologue and chapters 1 and 2 of this, just so you all know. **

NOTE: Three of the scenes in this chapter have been taken from the book but have been edited to fit AU circumstances. Luke isn't building a new lightsaber because he doesn't need to; the scene with Xizor killing his would-be killer has been glossed over and tweaked; and the scene with the Emperor and Kain watching the security recording of Xizor doing so has been edited to show more insight into Kain's twisted mind. Other than that, the scenes with Piett and Vader were my own writing.

* * *

**Chapter 3 **

Luke sat on a couch, meditating.

He was staying at Obi-wan Kenobi's old home on Tatooine. Since it was made of synstone, it was still quite intact as that fateful day when the he and the old Jedi Master left it to go rescue Princess Leia Organa. It was also left untouched with none of its contents robbed by Tusken Raiders, Jawas, or any other potential thieves, since Obi-wan's spirit used the Force to scare and drive them off.

Luke spent his days at Obi-wan's old home as a hideout, waiting for any sign from Jabba's palace to let him know what the situation was with Han. Apparently, Aurra Sing still hadn't delivered him. So, Luke entertained himself in the meantime by meditating, training himself, reading through old and rare books which survived the Jedi Purges, and even catching up with the spirit of Obi-wan himself.

While Luke had long since forgiven Vader for Obi-wan's death, Luke also heard things from his former mentor's perspective. It would have never occurred to Luke otherwise that Ben had _allowed_ Vader to strike him down; by doing so, Vader played right onto the old Jedi's hands, making him more powerful in the realm beyond that of the physical universe.

Months ago, back when both he and his father were recovering from their ordeal on Cloud City, Vader told Luke his own story with his newly-restored memory, helping Luke to understand what caused such a good man to fall into darkness like that. Part of Luke's discussions with Ben here at his old home was more or less the same tale, but from his mentor's point of view.

His meditation was interrupted when he suddenly felt something.

For a Jedi to sense something… it was like all the body's normal senses combined, and yet at the same time, none of them at all. He could feel something… coming.

He thought he felt a flash of recognition. He sensed… Leia?

Calmly, Luke opened his eyes, got up, collected his lightsaber and blaster, and walked outside. He only armed himself in case the Tusken Raiders or something else tried to approach this place again.

Gazing out towards the horizon, Luke saw a thin dust cloud. Someone was approaching in a speeder. It was probably Leia, Chewie, or even Lando, since no one else was supposed to know that he was here. If it had been the Empire, it probably would have been a repeat of when stormtroopers had attacked the farm, killing his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru…

Luke felt his jaw muscles go tight at the memory of his home going up in smoke.

The Empire had a lot to answer for.

* * *

Since he really had nothing better to do, Piett socialized with the new recruits, especially those who expressed an interest in being fighter pilots.

By chance, he first met the Trandoshan and the Ho'Din who had resumed their conversation. The Trandoshan was a female named Beeshka who had some experience as a pilot and was looking forward to becoming a Rebel fighter pilot. She said little about herself or the subject, but was polite towards Piett – or at least and polite as one of her species normally was.

Standing even taller than the average Wookiee was the Ho'Din, whose name was Baji. His species was famous for their studies and knowledge of botany, and sometimes they even created their own strands of plants or fungi. However, like all nonhuman races in the galaxy, they were oppressed and used in one way or another. Just like how Wookiees were used for manual slave labor, the Ho'Din were often conscripted into the Empire as medical doctors for troops or even gardeners for high-ranking Imperials.

Piett next met with the female Rodian who pointed him out to everyone, whose name was Akkra. She had lost her family to the Empire, after they were enslaved and later killed. They were all just a few more among countless who had suffered at the Empire's hands.

Of course, Piett was not the only one meeting the new recruits. People from all different parts of the Alliance were introducing themselves to the recruits, regardless of their role in the Rebellion or how open or friendly they typically were. In fact, Piett could even spot a Falleen tech greeting the new recruits who were also Falleen. His name was Zefulin, and he had been a member of the Alliance ever since it was still a single cell back on Yavin 4. Piett had developed a small kind of friendship with the Falleen tech, especially since he was interested in seeing the new designs which Piett had contributed to the Rebellion after defecting to them. Zefulin was good at making polite conversation and small talk, but one thing he never talked about was his own family. Naturally, Piett didn't push the issue.

Just then, he heard a female voice address him.

"Second Commander Piett?"

He turned around to see Mon Mothma. "Yes, milady?" he asked with a respectful bow.

The head of the Rebel Alliance stood there in simple yet elegant white robes, hands clasped. "As you can see, our number of pilots and pilots-in-training has at least doubled more recently. Because of these numbers, it would be wise to create a new, separate squadron… one which I was hoping you would be the leader for."

For a moment, there was shock, but that was quickly replaced by pride and even enthusiasm.

"Yes, milady. I feel up the challenge."

Mothma gave him a small, appreciative smile. "It's settled, then. You will train the new pilot recruits starting tomorrow. I trust you have enough experience in training?"

"Of course, my milady," Piett responded dutifully.

"Good. One other matter: What will you name your squadron?"

The polite smile on Piett's face slowly faded as he began to look thoughtful.

In contrast, his superior's grin grew a little wider. "Don't fret over that. It took a little while before Skywalker and his squadron could find the name for their squadron."

"Thank you, milady."

"That is all."

After he bowed and she subsequently left, Piett turned back to talking to the new recruits. It was a good thing that he had already gotten started on getting to know them, if he was going to be their squadron commander.

* * *

Xizor and his bodyguards walked down one a corridor after the meeting with Darth Kain, past its rows of fanciful plant life and even small animals that lived with them. The protected corridors in the core of the Imperial Center were available only to those with proper identification and admissions were strictly limited and enforced… well, at least in theory, anyway.

Because just then, a lone man appeared in front of them and started shooting at Xizor with a blaster.

The exchange was both brief and unexciting. The assailant hit a guard in front who took a shot for his prince, and then dropped to the ground with a smoking hole in his concealed hardweave armor. In return, a second guard returned fire and managed a direct hit on the attacker's blaster, knocking it from his hand. With that, the threat was over.

Apparently, the man didn't seem to think so, because then he screamed and charged at Xizor and his remaining guards barehanded.

Intrigued, Xizor let the man come. True, the man was bigger than himself or any of his guards, built like some heavy-gravity weight lifter, but he was obviously out of his mind if he thought he could take on three armed guards while he himself was unarmed.

_This could be interesting…_

"Don't shoot him," Xizor said to his guards as the attacker was only twenty meters or so away and closing fast. "Leave him to me. He's mine."

His guards obeyed, tucking away their own blasters and backing off.

The Dark Prince allowed himself one of his tight smiles in anticipation.

The assassin continued to run at him, screaming incoherently like some insane beast.

As this brief fight proved, size didn't always matter, because with a few moves, Xizor had sufficiently knocked the man off balance and had beaten him to the ground.

As the man got back up, Xizor asked smoothly, "What seems to be the problem, citizen?"

"You murdering scum! You bog slime!"

Xizor dodged a punch that would have shattered his skull and countered by kicking the man in the chest so hard that he got the wind knocked out of him.

As the attacker tottered back a few steps to catch his breath, Xizor spoke again. "Have we met? I have an excellent memory for faces, and I don't recall yours." He also took that moment to casually brush a bit of lint off his shoulder as though nothing was happening.

"You killed my father. Have you forgotten Colby Hoff?"

With that, the man charged again, his fists swinging wildly.

Once again, Xizor stepped aside, but this time he delivered a hammerfirst into the man's head, knocking him down.

"You are mistaken, Hoff. Your father committed suicide, as I recall. Stuck a blaster in his mouth and blew the back of his head off, didn't he? Very messy."

Hoff got himself up off the floor, letting his rage drive him as he went at Xizor again.

Xizor moved to his right and drove his left boot into Hoff's left knee, and hard. The Falleen could even hear the joint go with a wet snap as he connected.

"You ruined him!" Hoff yelled as he struggled to get up with his good knee.

"We were _business_ competitors," Xizor said matter-of-factly, as though explaining something simple to a stupid person. "He gambled that he was smarter than I. A foolish mistake. If you cannot afford to lose, then you should not play the game."

"I'm going to kill you!" Hoff hollered, not about to give up.

"I think not," Xizor said. With such speed for someone his size, he stepped behind Hoff and grabbed the wounded man's head with both hands. "You see, to contend with Xizor is to lose. As far as any reasonable person is concerned, attacking me will also be judged a suicide."

With that, Xizor gave a sharp, hard twist.

The crack of vertebrae was quite loud in the corridor. In fact, he wouldn't have been surprised if it could have been heard all the way to the end of the corridor from which they entered it.

"Clean up this mess," he said to his guards. "And inform the proper authorities of this poor young man's fate."

Xizor looked down at the body, and felt no remorse. It was like stepping on an unwelcome insect, and meant nothing to him.

Besides, he had dealt with much bigger and more intelligent enemies before.

_And speaking of which… _

Making a comment for the surveillance devices he knew were in the corridor, Xizor also added, "I am certain that neither the Emperor nor Darth Kain would be pleased to know that such an unintelligent brute such as this man was able to get into the protected corridor."

There, that ought to do it. Xizor still owed Kain for the barbs earlier in the meeting, anyway.

_Take _that,_ you Sith maniac. _

* * *

The failed assassination attempt on Xizor's life didn't go unobserved or unnoticed, of course. Sitting in his floating repulsor chair, the Emperor stared at the life-size image of Xizor in a protected corridor, snapping the neck of his would-be killer.

Smiling, he then turned to look at Darth Kain.

"Well, it would seem that Prince Xizor has kept up with his martial arts practice," the Emperor commented.

Unseen by the dictator, Kain scowled under his helmet. "Xizor is a dangerous man who can't be trusted, my master."

The Emperor gave him one of his unattractive, toothy smiles. "Do not trouble yourself with Xizor, Lord Kain. He is my concern."

"As you wish," Kain responded with a bow.

"Although… I wonder how that hotheaded young man got into that protected corridor," the Emperor said. But there was no wonder in his voice at all.

Kain felt himself freeze. The Emperor knew. Kain might have killed the guard who admitted the would-be assassin into the corridor to cover up his tracks, but with his mater of the dark side of the Force, the Emperor still knew.

_Think fast, Kain,_ he told himself

"I'll look into it, my master," Kain said, breaking the tense silence.

"Don't bother," his master said, waving a withered hand in dismissal. "No harm was done to Xizor, and he took care of himself quite well, didn't he? Still, I would hate to see anything happen to him as long as he is useful to us. Even if he were to lose the ability to speak because somebody _choked_ him, I would be most displeased."

Kain bowed again. He also would have been a fool to miss the subtle threat of that last statement, what with how he _had_ Force-choked Xizor a few years back when the Falleen was only trying to congratulate him on becoming the Emperor's new right-hand man. There would be no further attempts to go after Xizor.

Well… not yet, anyway.

In the meantime, Kain would keep a close watch on the Dark Prince. Xizor was all too devious, and whatever his twisted mind could come up with would only be offered to help the Emperor if it also helped the Dark Prince himself.

_In other words, he's much like yourself?_ a voice in Kain's head taunted. Kain silenced that voice and went back to his original train of thought.

After all, Xizor _was_ a criminal. A powerful one, certainly, but still a criminal nonetheless. His morals were perverse, his ethics were situational, and his loyalties nonexistent. He would stop at nothing to get his way, and Kain was pretty sure that what Xizor desired did not include a galaxy that had the Emperor or Kain in it.

_"To contend with Xizor is to lose"? _

_We'll see about that, you slippery reptile._

* * *

Vader took his time making his way through Mos Eisley spaceport, because all it would take was even one glimpse of his mask under his hood for people to panic and rumors to circulate.

"Ready to go, Midnight?" he asked his new Astromech droid as he settled himself into the cockpit.

She beeped an affirmative answer, and a minute later, they were taking off out of Mos Eisley.

Like some majestic and unique rare bird, the _Desert Angel_ flew across the desert, truly living up to her name.

Vader stretched out with the Force to locate Luke, and within moments, he found his son. Using the Force like some archaic compass from ancient times, Vader flew towards where Luke was.

* * *

A/N: Just another progressive chapter, I know, but I at least tried to make it interesting.

Note about the new recruits: Some are my own creation, some come from canon in certain ways…

**Baji:** More than a decade ago, this small book series came out: _The Adventure Continues._ It only had six books in it: _The Glove of Darth Vader, The Lost City of the Jedi, Zorba the Hutt's Revenge, Mission from Mount Yoda, Queen of the Empire,_ and _Prophets of the Dark Side._ The books are obviously meant for younger readers, and on top of that, they just don't seem to jive with the other canon books from the Expanded Universe. Still, if you're bored and have an hour to kill, they might be worth reading. So, anyway, Baji was a Ho'Din who appeared in the second and fifth books in the series, and so I decided to use him here, as a master in botany (as so many Ho'Din are). I just figured it would be a good idea if I were to use him. (Oh, and I got rid of his tendency to speak in rhyme.)

**Beeshka:** This OC of mine is a female Trandoshan (she's of the same species as that bounty hunter Bossk). No clue how I came up with her name; maybe I tried to make her name sound like a female version of Bossk's name or something.

**Akkra:** I got this from the Latin adjective for "sharp, swift, keen."

Note about Zefulin, the Falleen tech: Well, okay, technically he's not mine, but he's still worth mentioning here anyway. When I was brainstorming "Vengeance", I asked Kenya Starflight if I could use that obscurely mentioned Falleen Rebel tech (you can spot him in the beginning of ch. 12 of "Innocence"). Apparently, she'd completely forgotten about that guy, and said it was okay if I were to use him. His name is derived from the Hebrew word _zevul_ which means "exalted abode." (As Kenya Starflight pointed out to me, the Biblical name Zebulun is derived from that word.) I have much in store for Zefulin…

Next chapter is where Luke and his father finally meet again, and they plot how to rescue Han… _–Quillian_


	5. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER:** See the Prologue.  
**SPECIAL DISCLAIMER:** See the Prologue.  
_**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:**_ See the Prologue.

A/N: I am SO SORRY for the infrequent updates with this fic. Let's just say that I have other fics which demand more attention than this and have been meaning to get back to sooner.

NOTE: The meeting of our heroes has been glossed and tweaked, as has the meeting with Xizor and his Vigos and the subsequent scene between Xizor and Guri.

* * *

**Chapter 4 **

Luke was standing next to the house when they arrived in the landspeeder, already knowing that they were coming.

As Chewie brought the speeder to a stop, Luke smiled and waved in greeting.

"Hey, Luke," Lando greeted him in return.

Chewie growled a greeting, Threepio and Artoo greeted their master in their own respective ways, while Leia just smiled back at her friend.

She may have been in love with Han, but that didn't mean she liked Luke any less. There was something about Luke that radiated calmness and friendship.

Lando explained that the Imperials had some new slicer droids in use, and that they didn't want to take the risk of having any transmissions intercepted. They were about to all head inside to escape the day's heat when Luke told them that they were waiting for someone else.

_Luke?_

_Father,_ Luke mentally sent back in return. _Where are you?_

_I'm coming right now. Look to the horizon, in the direction from which our friends came._

Luke turned to see a glimmer of something red flying low over the ground. Everyone else turned to see what he was looking at, and they saw it too.

It was a modified Naboo N-1 starfighter, with not the traditional yellow coat but a sleek, eye-catching red.

_Where have you been, Father?_

_Not too far away, Luke. I have spent the past months trying to make reparations for those whom I have wronged in the past, and my host has granted me a brief reprieve. _

_Why, how did that happen?_ Luke asked, puzzled.

_I'll explain later,_ Vader promised his son.

The _Desert Angel_ touched down several feet away from them. Vader's new R2 unit, nicknamed "Midnight," disengaged while Vader opened the cockpit and jumped to the ground, using the Force to slow his descent. A hood was drawn up over his head to disguise his mask and help him keep as much anonymity as possible.

_Hello again, Father,_ Luke said, giving his father the mental equivalent of an embrace. He had to forego a physical embrace, since that would have looked odd to their friends.

_Son,_ Vader replied, returning the embrace.

Artoo warbled a happy greeting, and Vader said, "It is also good to see you again, Artoo."

"Hello, Vader," Lando said almost casually. It had been a bit of a shock for him to meet the once-feared Dark Lord of the Sith at first. However, after a few sabacc games and discussions about spaceships like those which Vader had with Han during the former Sith's recovery after the confrontation with the Emperor at Cloud City, Lando got along with the masked man quite well.

"Lando Calrissian," Vader greeted him, with a small bow.

"Come, let's go inside," Luke said, knowing how hot it was and how they had business to get down to. Everyone else happily complied.

Luke was cooking something in the kitchen, and a nice big jug of juri juice sat on the counter.

_Ah, so this is where Obi-wan lived after…_ Vader's train of thought broke off there. It was still something of a painful topic, speaking about Obi-wan Kenobi, especially after regaining his memory. One way or another, Mustafar came to mind…

_…"It's over, Anakin!" Obi-wan shouted. "I have the high ground!" he proclaimed, gesturing to the area near the lava flow. _

_Still standing there on the hovering platform, Anakin only looked up at his former master, who he now saw as an enemy. "You underestimate my power," he said arrogantly. _

_Obi-wan shook his head, not wanting to have to fight anymore, especially since he knew what his former student was likely to try next. "Don't try it," he said. _

_Anakin's face hardened, and coiling up his legs whilst calling upon the Force, he leaped high in the area, echoing a battle cry as he came down… _

_…and landed upon the hot, dirty ground, only his prosthetic right arm remaining, screaming and groaning in pain. _

_Obi-wan deactivated his lightsaber, looking appalled at what he had to do just to defend himself. _

_After a moment, his emotions finally broke. "YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE!" he screamed, his voice straining and almost sounding like he wanted to cry. "It was said that you would _destroy_ the Sith, not _join_ them! That you would bring _balance_ to the Force, not leave it in _darkness!_" _

_Anakin, whose eyes were now glowing like the lava flow he was slowly slipping down towards, looked up at Obi-wan, who had just collected his enemy's lightsaber. "I HATE YOU!" he screamed, his voice now hoarse as he struggled to climb up, away from the deadly lava flow. _

_Obi-wan looked down at what Anakin had become and turned to, almost too upset for words… _

_"You were my brother, Anakin," he said sorrowfully. "I loved you." _

_For one brief moment, Anakin's anger was replaced by sadness, wishing it hadn't come to this – _

_– and the next moment, his sadness was replaced by excruciating pain as one of his leg stumps caught on fire…_

Vader suppressed those memories as best as he could, trying to focus on the here and now.

After pouring cups of juri juice for everyone, they got some small chitchat out of the way and got down to business.

As Vader sipped the refreshing drink, Luke found out why they had come. He even jumped up, ready to go and rescue Han that very moment.

"Whoa, hold on, Luke," Lando said. "Not only do we have to make sure that Sing's there, but we also have to consider that little matter with the Imperial navy."

"Lando's right, Luke," Vader added. "Especially about the Imperial navy. Assuming that nothing major has changed in the past few years since when I still served the Empire, the Enclave stationed at Gall should still be as tough as I remember. Or at least as tough as two Star Destroyers with their seventy-two TIE fighters each can be."

Neither response seemed to deter Luke. "So? I'm sure we can fly circles around those guys."

Leia, Lando and Vader all exchanged glances. Luke certainly didn't lack self-confidence when it came to his flying.

"Besides, Wedge is currently in command of Rogue Squadron, and I'm sure our rejoining them will be fine, since we originally came here to rescue Han, after all. So, I say let's do it."

"Uh, Luke, we should still wait for confirmation that Sing is on Gall, remember?" Lando reminded him. Leia could clearly see Luke's lack of patience here.

Vader wisely took this opportunity to chip in. "You know, Luke, we could still just _contact_ Wedge and the other Rogues first while we're still waiting here."

Luke thought about it for a moment and seemed content with that. Vader was pleased that he could do his part as a father without sounding too fatherly, should anyone else be nearby. The fact that Vader was Luke's father was still a secret that neither of them were ready to reveal to anyone, at least for the moment.

"I'll speak to the leadership," Leia said, going for her comm unit.

Vader could sense that Leia was also impatient to get Han back, but in her own way. As a seasoned former ambassador for the late Imperial Senate, Leia knew how to hide her feelings better. And considering how she wanted Han back more than anyone else, her ability to disguise her emotions was impressive.

* * *

Xizor sat at the head of the long table in his private meeting room, conducting a meeting. His nine lieutenants sat around it with varying looks of nervousness on their faces, while Guri stood dutifully behind him.

Each of them had ascended to this level of Black Sun and had earned the honorific of " Vigo" (derived from the old Tionese word for nephew). The point of that was to foster the illusion that the top managers of the organization were family, this making them appear stronger to outsiders.

Unfortunately, however, the appearance was not always the truth. As the old saying went, "Appearances can be deceiving."

One of them was a spy.

It didn't matter who the spy was working for, because that spy would be punished. And just because such things were to be expected in this business did not mean that they could be allowed to let slide.

Around the table, there were Xizor's nine lieutenants… but by the end of this meeting, he would have eight.

But first, there was that normal business of Black Sun to attend to and properly settle.

One by one, they all gave their reports: Lonay the Twi'lek, Sprax the Narloni, Vekker the Quarren, Durga the Hutt, Kreet'ah the Kian'thar, Clezo the Rodian, Wumdi the Etti, Perit the Mon Calamari, and Green the Human.

What a truly diverse group this was, with some of them having worked their way up through the ranks of Black Sun, while others merely built upon fortunes inherited from their fathers (or, in the case of Kreet'ah, his biological mother). They all differed in their ambitions, their aims, their goals… and how they panicked when they realized that they could be in trouble.

After letting them sit and worry for a few minutes, Xizor nodded to Guri, who started to pace around them like a bird of prey around a nest of tempting rodents. Time to get down to business of a different kind now…

"A final item on our agenda, my Vigos. One of your number has seen fit to use his office to betray us. Not content with the millions of credits he has made by my largesse, the awards, bonuses, dividends, and unreported skim that you all indulge yourselves in, this… person has dishonored the title of Vigo."

As Guri continued her slow walk around the table, Xizor continued speaking, slowly, evenly, and betraying nothing in his voice. "There are sublieutenants among your ranks who would cheerfully wipe out entire planets to be given such an opportunity as you all have been given. To be a Vigo in Black Sun is to enjoy more power than all but a handful of beings in the entire galaxy."

As Guri started her rotation around the table yet again, Xizor thought about each Vigo she passed behind. He didn't know who the traitor was yet, but that wouldn't keep him from guessing as he analyzed the likelihood of any of them actually betraying him.

Lonay was too much of a coward to risk betraying his "uncle."

Sprax was too smart to try to cross Xizor.

Vekker was content with his job and status quo, having no ambition to rise any higher.

As Guri stopped behind Durga, the tension in the room thickened to where it almost became tangible.

Xizor, watching the real-life drama, thought that was a nice touch. Durga would be likely enough to go for a coup, he certainly had plenty of ambition to go around, and Xizor remembered full well how Durga came into the fold with the circumstances surrounding the business from Ylesia … but it wasn't him. However, Guri did take the time to whisper to the Hutt to think long and hard before trying to take Xizor's place, especially with Xizor keeping an eye on him.

Guri passed Kreet'ah, passed Clezo, passed Wumdi, passed Perit… and finally stopped at Green.

A small, cold smile totally befitting of the Falleen graced his reptilian face.

Simultaneously, Green shot up from his seat just as Guri pinned him down and began to choke the life out of him. She held her grip on him…

A few moments later, Green was released and he slumped forward onto the table, lifeless. The sound his head made against the table sounded too loud for the comfort of the other Vigos.

"I will accept nominations for a new Vigo now," Xizor said.

No one spoke for a moment; they were still too unnerved by witnessing the death of the traitor Green. A pity about Green, Xizor thought as he kept his face bland. Green was one of the smartest Vigos under his command, but unfortunately, humans were quick to treachery and could hardly ever be trusted.

Xizor took another glance at the unnerved Vigos and was glad that the lesson was well-taught here:

_To contend with Xizor is to lose._

Never forget that.

* * *

After the other Vigos had left and the body had been removed, Xizor attended to a more personal kind of "business."

"You have assembled all the information on Skywalker?" he asked Guri.

"Yes, my prince."

Granted, Xizor must have had tens of thousands of people working for him, but since this was personal, this was kind of… sensitive.

"All of the material has been checked and rechecked?"

"As you ordered."

"Very well. Let the bounty hunters know the price for Skywalker's head… and Vader's. Black Sun's hand must be invisible. There must be no mistakes."

"There will be none, my prince."

"Oh, and I would like to speak to Jabba the Hutt."

"He will be online when you return from midday meal, my prince."

"No. Have him come here by the fastest ship; I would speak to him personally."

"As you wish."

Xizor's reasoning to the prices was this: The Emperor would pay generously enough for both Skywalker and Vader to be brought to them alive. Black Sun's prices superseded those of the Empire's, but while Xizor also wanted Vader alive, it was so he could witness or at least hear of Skywalker's death.

As for Kain, he would not be immune to his superior's anger for failing to bring in Skywalker and Vader, even though he was the Emperor's right-hand man.

Xizor knew full well how capricious the Emperor could be. He had been known to have whole cities destroyed because a local official defied him. He'd once had a wealthy family banished from the core systems because one of the sons had plowed a ship into one of the Emperor's favorite buildings, damaging it – and not incidentally killing the pilot responsible.

The trick was to give the Emperor no excuse or reason to do away with you.

And Xizor was very good at getting away with things.

The vengeance for Vader, the dishonoring of Kain… both hinged upon one thing, and that was the death of Luke Skywalker.

* * *

A/N: Just another transitional chapter, I know, but I at least tried to make it interesting.

Note about Durga and this thing about Ylesia: If you want to know how this Hutt wound up with Xizor and Black Sun, then you can read about it in the Han Solo trilogy by A.C. Crispin.

Next chapter is just more stuff going on with the heroes and the villains (although it may be a while before I get to that next chapter)… _–Quillian_


	6. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER:** See the Prologue.  
**SPECIAL DISCLAIMER:** See the Prologue.  
_**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:**_ See the Prologue.

A/N: Once again, here's another infrequent update. Sorry to those of you who were waiting and really like this story.

NOTE: What was Darth Vader in his medical chamber at this point in the book has been changed to show Darth Kain in his personal quarters instead. Otherwise, the other two scenes showing our heroes have been glossed and tweaked. I also skipped over most of the scene with Xizor and Jabba, since that would have been pretty much the same in the book, and I also added some nice father/son interaction between Luke and Vader.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Darth Kain sat within his own personal quarters, immersing himself within the Dark Side of the Force.

He was testing a theory: Maybe he could use the Dark Side to grow certain limbs of the human body back?

If he could pull this off, he might even be more powerful than his own master, Darth Sidious. The old man was the most powerful being in the galaxy, and he still allowed himself to walk around like some mummified old corpse! (Kain knew that he allowed that years ago to help back up his lie that the Jedi attacked him when he was still the Supreme Chancellor of the Old Republic. Still…)

But then another thought occurred to him: What if Sidious didn't use the Force to improve his looks because he _couldn't?_

A ray of fear passed through Kain, but he quickly blocked it out. Fear would not help him here.

Looking down at his artificial hand, Kain closed his eyes and focused, calling upon the power of the Dark Side.

He concentrated, imaging that his flesh and bone was growing bit by bit.

About a minute later, he felt some discomfort. It was his artificial hand again.

Stang it! It must have been the usual pain from it! But wait… could it have been because it worked?

Kain opened his eyes again and took a look.

Yes! Kain was sure that it was a millimeter longer than before. It _had_ to be!

However, his positive feelings of happiness and others threw off his concentration of the dark side, and so by now the process had definitely stopped.

_Ah well,_ he thought. _I'll try again later…_

Kain felt a small trembling in his body, but after a few moments, it stopped. He knew what that meant: He needed another blood transfusion from a Force-strong donor, and soon.

Sighing, he put his glove back on his mechanical hand, and departed from his private quarters.

* * *

Luke and Vader both sat in meditation while Leia was napping, Chewie walked around, trying to keep cool, and the droids played some sort of word translation game. At the same time, father and son also conversed with each other through the Force.

_How are you faring, Father?_ Luke asked.

_Do not worry, I have healed nicely since what happened on Bespin,_ Vader responded calmly.

_You've been through so many things and gotten injured so many times, it's scary,_ Luke confessed. _Especially from my point of view. For the longest time, I thought you were dead. I don't want to lose you._

_Do not fear, Luke. Fear of loss was precisely what led to _my_ downfall._

Outside their small Force-strong realm, Chewie noticed something, and then spoke.

Threepio turned from the game and said, "Chewbacca says Master Lando has returned."

Luke and Vader calmly brought themselves out of their meditative states and acknowledged them.

A moment later, Lando came in, grinning.

"What are you so happy about?" Luke asked.

"I just got a coded call from Dash Rendar. It turns out that Aurra Sing's ship is on Gall."

The HoloNet was expensive and restricted. In theory, only the Empire could use it. But in practice, anybody with a little primary school education could tap into the net, use a few relays, and make calls easily. On top of that, they could make the Empire pay for it too, just to add insult to injury.

Luke jumped up with his youthful energy. "When can we leave?"

"I've got the _Millenium Falcon_ ready to go. How long will it take you to get your X-wing operational?"

"As soon as Artoo and I get on board."

Before Lando could ask, Vader added, "It should not take me long to prepare the _Desert Angel_ for departure."

"Wait, what?" Leia asked with a yawn. She stood in the doorway, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"It looks like we've found Han," Lando told her.

"I'll meet you in orbit," Luke said, grinning. At last, the wait was over.

Leia responded, "I'll get off a coded call to the Rogues."

Vader looked around, and even through his despised mask, he could see how everyone was eager to rescue their friend.

* * *

The meeting with Jabba went shortly and smoothly. Xizor played the role of the gracious host, making small talk and offering some refreshment to the Hutt, and in the end, everything worked out.

Jabba left thinking he was some trusted confidant of Xizor. Besides, it would do the Hutt's reputation no harm if his underlings and enemies thought he had the ear of the leader of Black Sun. Fear was good; fear and greed were better.

Xizor left knowing that he would be informed if Skywalker, Vader, or any of their friends returned to Tatooine, seeing as they had just left that planet.

Xizor's spies had learned that Darth Kain had turned Solo, a small-time smuggler and sometime Alliance pilot, over to the fearsome bounty hunter Aurra Sing on Bespin. Sooner or later, Sing would show up on Tatooine to deliver Solo and collect her credits. But Xizor's spies indicated that Sing's ship, _Steel Nexu_, was not on Tatooine. And so far those spies had not been able to locate the bounty hunter.

Well… after all, it was a large galaxy, and such searches took time.

Xizor was also willing to bet that Skywalker had returned to Tatooine to anticipate Sing's arrival, so then he could rescue his friend. So why had he left the planet? His departure could indicate a number of different things. Maybe he had gotten bored (although Xizor didn't think that likely), maybe had some pressing business to attend to which was completely unrelated to Solo… or maybe he already discovered his friend's whereabouts through the Alliance. After all, the Alliance's contacts were fairly extensive and included much of the famed Bothan spynet.

In which case, he could increase his agents' chances of finding Skywalker instead.

And wherever Skywalker was, Vader was sure to be as well.

Upon reaching his sanctum, he called Guri. She glided in silently.

"Put out the information that those seeking to claim the reward for Skywalker and Vader would be advised to locate the bounty hunter Aurra Sing. Sooner or later, Skywalker and Vader will likely do so, and appropriate plans can be made for that instance."

Guri nodded without speaking.

Xizor smiled.

* * *

Leia sat in the _Millenium Falcon_'s lounge, watching Chewie and Threepio play on the hologame board. Lando was in the galley making, something for dinner which smelled awful, even all the way where she was. Luke sat next to Leia, cleaning the lenses on Artoo's electrophoto receptors. Vader sat off to the side, reading up on recent events within the Rebellion while he had been away, doing… well, whatever he was doing.

Luke's X-wing was locked onto the _Falcon_'s hull – the trip was possible in the fighter, but it was also a long jump to make without sleeping, eating or using the 'fresher. Midnight was piloting the _Desert Angel_ through hyperspace all by herself, although Leia wasn't quite sure how that was decided upon – then again, Midnight was a bit of a pushy droid with a sort of motherly personality.

Leia tried not to think about Han, but she felt like it was nearly impossible. Just being on this jury-rigged ship, Han Solo's pride and joy, made her think of him.

As if Fate noticed her thoughts and feelings, something then happened which helped distract her.

Threepio and Chewie had apparently gotten into an argument over their game. Threepio could be heard well enough: "Well, I'm sorry, but it was a fair move. It's not my fault you didn't see it… _No_, I'm not going to take it back. And I'd advise you not to threaten me, because if you pull my arm off, I won't play with you anymore."

Chewie muttered something before leaning back in his seat and looking at the game board again, wondering what to do now.

Leia smiled at how the Wookiee and the protocol droid squabbled over their game like a couple of children.

Off to the side, Artoo warbled something as Luke continued to work on him. Vader looked up from what he was reading and commented, "No, I don't see any scratches, Artoo. You look fine."

Lando entered the lounge, bearing a tray with several steaming plates and bowls upon it.

"Dinner is served," Lando said with a smile and the air of a professional chef. "Giju stew."

They all glanced at him for a moment before going back to what they were doing.

"Don't all rush at once," Lando said as his smile faded.

To Leia, it looked like something nasty which one would find in a swamp or a garbage dump. It certainly smelled bad enough. Like some sort of cross between melted boot plastic and fertilizer, maybe with some pond scum…

"Come on, I spent an hour in the galley fixing this. Everybody dig in!"

Chewie said something that didn't sound too complimentary.

"Hey, pal, if you don't like it, then you can cook next time."

Chewie rumbled something like _"Fine, maybe I will"_ before turning his attention back to the game.

Luke looked up from his work on Artoo, and made a disgusted face. "Giju stew?" he said. "It looks like some combination of melted boot plastic and fertilizer, with some pond scum mixed in…"

Leia had to stifle her laughter.

"Fine, fine!" Lando said with some exasperation. "I don't mind if you don't eat it, means more for me."

Taking a spoonful, Lando said around it, "See? It tastes great." However, the next moment, he looked horrified and disgusted.

After forcing himself to swallow, he took a heavy breath. "Okay, nevermind. Maybe I used a little too much Boontaspice…"

Luke and Leia laughed at the same time, only to look at each other in amazement the next moment.

Whether to volunteer or just to break up the awkward moment, Vader put his reading material aside, got up and told Lando, "If you want, I can dump this into space…"

Lando shook his head. "Nah, somehow, even I wouldn't take that risk. Who knows what could happen if I did…" Somehow, he managed to sound serious when he said that, probably because he was being serious.

"I believe there are some packets of Nemar noodles stored away somewhere," Vader offered.

"Good thinking," Lando commented before leaving the lounge in search of those.

Privately, Luke telepathically asked his father, _Well, if push came to shove, at least you could have said that you were just recovering from something and couldn't eat it, right?_

Vader responded bluntly, _Luke, even if my olfactory senses were dull enough to tolerate it and my intake vent could handle it, I _still_ wouldn't eat it._

To herself, Leia decided that there were a lot worse places she could have been than here with her friends.

* * *

A/N: Just another transitional chapter, I know, but I at least tried to make it interesting.

Note about Kain in this chapter: I'm trying to show him as being the crazy Sith that he is. I hope I did it well here…

Note about the thing with Lando's cooking: I took some liberties with that scene to make it different (such as Vader offering to dump the stuff into space). As for the thing with Nemar noodles, I made that up. "Nemar" is "Ramen" spelled backwards.

Next chapter is where the heroes start implementing their plans to rescue Han… _–Quillian_


End file.
